Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Public Expenditure

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018, Spring Statement, HCWS 540, if he will publish a list of where the £75.8 million EU exit funding for his Department will be allocated.

Chris Grayling: The Department for Transport has been allocated £75.8m for essential EU exit preparations in 2018-19. This will be spent on work to develop a new road haulage permit system, put in place new systems to support market access for hauliers and private motorists, and changes to DVSA facilities. As with all Reserve funding, finalised allocations will be confirmed at Supplementary Estimates 2018-19 in early 2019.

Cycling: Road Traffic Offences

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to tackle cyclists riding dangerously on (a) footpaths and (b) pavements.

Jesse Norman: The current dangerous and careless cycling offences apply to the road. This includes the pavement. Last year the Government announced a cycle safety review consisting of two phases. The first part of the review considers the case for creating a new offence similar to that of causing death or serious injury by careless or dangerous driving, to help protect both cyclists and pedestrians. This is the focus of an independent legal report which was published on 9 March. The Department will issue a response to that report in due course. The independent legal report is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-safety-review

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to introduce an online emissions standard system for drivers to check the euro emissions standard of their vehicle; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: As part of the work to establish clean air zones, it may be necessary for some local authorities to implement local charging schemes for certain vehicles. We are therefore developing the necessary infrastructure to support charging schemes, which includes working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on how owners of affected vehicles could check to see whether or not a charge is applicable.

Electric Vehicles: Grants

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to extend the plug-in car grant to 2020.

Jesse Norman: The Plug-in Car Grant plays an important role as part of a wider package of support measures to decarbonise our road transport and realise Government’s ambition to end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040. In January this year we committed to extending the Plug-in Car Grant in some form until at least the beginning of 2020.

Train Operating Companies: Emergencies

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to review the emergency procedures used by train operating companies.

Joseph Johnson: Under law, all train operating companies (TOCs) are required to have emergency response plans in place so that they can effectively respond to incidents and emergencies as and when they occur. Emergency planning is a specific requirement of safety management systems for both train operators and infrastructure managers. It is the responsibility of the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) to look at individual operators’ arrangements for emergency planning, both during its assessment of safety certificates and as part of its wider risk-based supervision activity. The Department does not have a role in reviewing these arrangements.

Network Rail: Procurement

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value for money delivered by Network Rail’s Framework Contract approach to procurement; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail has a strong record of employing framework agreements to deliver major programmes of work and these have been used throughout Control Period 5 and are a significant feature of the procurement route for Control Period 6 (CP6). The benefits associated with this approach include the ability for suppliers to have better work-bank visibility and thereby develop more efficient delivery plans for high volumes of works that are generally repetitive in nature. In addition to employing consistent management and delivery teams, this regime makes use of key performance metrics that support structured continuous improvements with regards safety, programme predictability, costs and innovation. In addition, early years performance and cost capture is used to benchmark and drive improved performance for subsequent years. Also the ongoing engagement between organisations looks to establish better coordination and collaboration in the planning, delivery and stewardship of commercial issues with a lower likelihood of formal disputes, the resolution of which can be costly. Incentivisation mechanisms such as volume discounts and extensions for good/high performance are also designed to promote efficiency and value for money. Network Rail recognises that when properly formed, procured and administered, framework agreements drive improvements in safety, predictability and value for money and are well received by the supply chain and plans to build on the experience of the current control period to realise efficiencies during CP6.

Network Rail: Procurement

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value for money delivered by Network Rail’s signalling framework contract approach to procurement taking into account the price for a signalling equivalent unit (SEU) in 2003 compared to projected SEU costs in Control Period 6; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The scope of modern signalling projects has grown considerably since 2003, meaning direct comparisons are not possible. Current projects now encompass telecoms, civil engineering, track and electrification works. Network Rail’s signalling frameworks are structured geographically and allow signalling suppliers to invest in resources, equipment and processes. As a result of this investment, signalling projects are now among the safest engineering projects carried out on the railway, whilst being delivered more efficiently than ever before. Today’s projected rate for an SEU in CP6 is estimated at £330k. Taking inflation into account, this is significantly lower in real terms than the £272k SEU value in 2003.

Department for Transport: Cambridge Analytica​ and SCL Group

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has met with representatives of the SCL group or Cambridge Analytica.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dft-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings

Department for Transport: Cambridge Analytica​ and SCL Group

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether (a)  his Department and (b) agencies of his Department have had contracts with (a) SCL Group, (b) Cambridge Analytica.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The central Department and its four executive agencies – Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Vehicle Certification Agency - have no record of entering into any contracts with SCL Group or Cambridge Analytica since 2010.

Department for Transport: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2018 to Question 133023 on Department for Transport: Assets and with reference to the Answers of 21 March 2018 to Questions 133017, 133018, 133020, 133022 and 133029 on Government Departments: Assets, for what reason the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Transport has delegated estate management matters to Executive Agencies for reasons of operational effectiveness. The information requested is not held in the format sought and obtaining this for the central department and Executive Agencies would require a manual trawl through local systems and individual transactions which would exceed the cost limit. In addition, owing to organisational changes former Executive Agencies would be brought into scope which would require further analysis of historic records.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Companies: Property

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many properties in the UK are owned by companies registered in (a) British Overseas Territories and (b) Crown Dependencies.

Andrew Griffiths: HM Land Registry holds information on registered titles in England and Wales that are owned by overseas companies. The information is released as a dataset available on GOV.UK and contains a description of the way in which the dataset is compiled.By reference to the dataset, as of March 2018 the number of titles where the legal owner is an overseas company based in (a) British Overseas Territories is 28,360 and (b) Crown Dependencies is 43,245.

Companies: Property

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the number of properties in the UK which are owned by companies registered in the Isle of Man.

Andrew Griffiths: HM Land Registry holds information on registered titles in England and Wales that are owned by overseas companies. The information is released as a dataset available on GOV.UK and contains a description of the way in which the dataset is compiled.By reference to the dataset, as of March 2018 the number of titles where the legal owner is an overseas company based in the Isle of Man is 10,778.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018, Spring Statement, HCWS 540, if he will publish a list of where the £185.1 million in EU exit funding for his Department will be allocated.

Andrew Griffiths: BEIS leads on dozens of EU exit issues covering areas such as energy; climate change; nuclear; markets and economy; goods, services and regulation, science and innovation. The allocated funding will allow the Department to negotiate and deliver against each of these issues in 2018/19, including staffing and systems costs and will enable BEIS to be EU exit ready.The exact allocations across projects will vary depending on the progress of negotiations with the EU. BEIS will not publish a list as this would prejudice those negotiations.

Intellectual Property: EU Law

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will ensure that the same level of rights under the EU unregistered designs regime is maintained in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Sam Gyimah: As stated in the UK Technical Note on “Other Separation Issues” – where the UK does not have existing domestic legislation to protect certain types of rights, it will establish new schemes. This will preserve the full scope of the unregistered Community design right in the UK

Furs: Labelling

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations his Department has made to the European Commission on the effectiveness of fur labelling guidelines under EU Regulation 1007/2011 since 2010.

Andrew Griffiths: Article 12 of the EU Regulation 1007/2011 requires textile products that contain non-textile parts of animal origin, such as fur, to be labelled or marked with the phrase “Contains non-textile parts of animal origin” whenever they are made available on the market.This government has not made any representations to the Commission on the effectiveness of Article 12.Should the Commission seek views on the effectiveness of Article 12 of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 we would engage at the appropriate time.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has met representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (c) Cambridge Analytica in the last five years.

Richard Harrington: Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following links: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bis-quarterly-publications-april-to-june-2012#2016

Coal: Imports

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that imported coal has been mined (a) using best practice health and safety procedures and (b) in accordance with human rights principles; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy: Meters

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125469, what the difference is between the installation cost figures used in the 2016 cost-benefit analysis update and energy suppliers’ current data on installation costs; and what effect the current data on installations will have on his policy on smart meter installation.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy: Meters

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February to Question 127494, on Energy: Meters, what progress has been made on ensuring all SMETS1 meters (a) are interoperable and (b) can be connected to the DCC.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) men, and (b) women have been in precarious employment in each year since 2011.

Andrew Griffiths: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the new UN Special Envoy to Yemen on the conflict in that country.

Alistair Burt: ​We welcome the appointment of Martin Griffiths as UN Special Envoy for Yemen. We see this as a welcome opportunity to reinvigorate the political process. Mr Griffiths met the Foreign Secretary in the FCO on 8 February.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions has he had with the Secretary of State Designate in the United States on the war in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary has not spoken to Mike Pompeo about State Department matters, including Yemen, as it would not be appropriate to do so until Congress has approved President Trump's nominationHe has met Mr Pompeo in his capacity as CIA Director on one occassion, covering a range of foreign policy issues in that conversation.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Zimbabwe.

Harriett Baldwin: We welcome the statements from President Mnangagwa on his intention to implement a wide range of economic and political reforms, including his commitment to holding free and fair elections this year. Implementation of these reforms will be critical for Zimbabwe to realise its desire for international re-engagement.

Coal: Russia

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, if the Government will include imports of coal from Russia in the list of sanctions against that country; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: EU sectoral sanctions, which have been in place since 2014, target parts of the Russian energy sector. Coal is not currently included under these sanctions. In response to the Salisbury incident, we continue to consider the full range of potential levers, both domestically and through international fora.

Ahed Tamimi

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has held with officials in the Israeli Government on the case of Ahed Tamimi since her court appearance on 12 March 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Our Embassy to Tel Aviv continues to raise this case with the relevant Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 March.

Nuclear Disarmament

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2018 to Question 131239, on Nuclear Disarmament, what the outcome was of the last P5 meeting involving representatives from capitals in 2017; which capitals sent representatives to that meeting; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​All the P5 sent representatives from capitals to the meeting in October 2017. There was a shared undertaking to continue the dialogue on strategic stability and nuclear doctrines, started in 2016.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of civilian deaths in Afrin resulting from Turkish military operations.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We are closely following reporting on civilian casualties and alleged human rights abuses in the Turkish operation in Afrin, but have not been able to verify any of the figures quoted. In all our contact with Turkey we have urged them to avoid civilian casualties, maintain human rights and to ensure that humanitarian assistance can reach the area.

Syria: International Law

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether there have been any recent potential breaches of international humanitarian law in Afrin; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have not seen any verifiable evidence of breaches of international humanitarian law. Any such allegations should be thoroughly investigated by the appropriate bodies. The Turkish Government has assured the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that it is working to minimise civilian casualties. Turkish forces are trained in the Law of Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law, and we have discussed with Turkey the importance of pressing all actors in the Syrian conflict to comply fully with international conventions and norms. Alistair Burt, Minister for the Middle East reinforced these messages during his visit to Turkey on 21-23 March.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any British-supplied weapons have been used in the Turkish military operations in Afrin.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​UK arms exports are subject to export controls. All decisions to approve export licences are considered on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (Consolidated Criteria). Decisions are based on the most up-to-date information and analysis available, including reports from our overseas network and military contacts. The Consolidated Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to consider the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We do not issue export licences where, for example, we assess there is a clear risk that the goods might be used for internal repression or used aggressively against another country. We cannot categorically state that UK weapons are not in use in Turkish military operations in Afrin, but all decisions to approve export licenses will have been taken based on the Consolidated Criteria and according to the latest information available at that time. We keep our approach to all countries under continual review.

Hong Kong: Rule of Law

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the erosion of the rule of law in Hong Kong and the potential effect of that on British businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: ​The British Government believes that the rule of law and independence of the judiciary is the foundation on which Hong Kong's success and prosperity is built. Despite challenges, Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law remains strong and the judiciary is held in high esteem. Confidence in rule of law is essential for 'One Country, Two Systems' and for Hong Kong's reputation as a global centre for business

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Eddie Hughes: What steps his Department is taking to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is taking a leading role in ending the illegal wildlife trade globally. The Government is funding practical action to reduce demand, strengthen enforcement and develop sustainable livelihoods in the communities affected by the illegal wildlife trade. We will host an ambitious high-level international conference in October to push for further progress.

Wildlife: Smuggling

Giles Watling: What steps his Department is taking to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is taking a leading role in ending the illegal wildlife trade globally. The Government is funding practical action to reduce demand, strengthen enforcement and develop sustainable livelihoods in the communities affected by the illegal wildlife trade. We will host an ambitious high-level international conference in October to push for further progress.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Facebook

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the US administration on the role of (a) Cambridge Analytica, (b) Strategic Communications Laboratories, (c) Global Science Research and (d) Aleksandr Kogan obtaining personal data from Facebook.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Neither the Foreign Secretary nor I have had discussions with the US Administration on these subjects.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Facebook

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library the (a) minutes and (b) notes of meetings his Department has held with Facebook on the data on UK citizens held by that company .

Sir Alan Duncan: Whilst the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has held meetings with Facebook regarding specific campaigns and initiatives, the FCO has not held discussions with them on the personal data of UK citizens.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Staff

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether (a) Cambridge Analytica, (b) Global Science Research and (c) Strategic Communication Laboratories have obtained the personal data of staff in his Department.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has never provided any personal data on staff to Cambridge Analytica, Global Science Research or Strategic Communications Laboratory.

World War II: Compensation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment the Government has made of the merits of Polish claims for war reparations from Germany.

Sir Alan Duncan: This is not a matter for the UK.

World War II: Compensation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he will consider seeking reparations from Germany in respect of damage caused to UK cities during World War II.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​No. The issue of reparations was considered in detail immediately after World War II at the Paris Reparations Conference of 1945, with international agreement set down in the Final Act of the Conference, which came into force on 24 January 1946. Furthermore the Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany, signed by the British Government in 1990, renounced all claims the UK and other allied powers had in Germany, allowing Germany to become fully sovereign.

Gaza: Armed Conflict

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the security situation in Gaza.

Alistair Burt: Holding answer received on 27 March 2018



While the Foreign Secretary has not recently discussed this specific issue with his Israeli counterpart, our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate-General in Jerusalem frequently urge both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take steps to improve conditions in Gaza. Every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security. We strongly condemn the recent attempted assassination of Prime Minister Hamdallah on 13 March, for which there is no justification. The UK continues to support the return of the legitimate Palestinian Authority to Gaza. We urge non-violence, dialogue and progress towards a sustainable Hamas-Fatah reconciliation and an improvement in the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Cambridge Analytica​ and SCL Group

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has met with representatives of the SCL group or Cambridge Analytica; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign Secretary and I met Alexander Nix, then CEO of Cambridge Analytica, in December 2016, to better understand the 2016 US presidential election, the political environment that followed and to build relationships with the Trump Presidential campaign. This outreach was part of normal diplomatic business.

1 Carlton Gardens: Repairs and Maintenance

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much has been spent on repairs and maintenance of No 1 Carlton Gardens fin each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: Holding answer received on 27 March 2018



Comparable figures for expenditure on repairs and maintenance at 1 Carlton Gardens are only available from 2009/10 due to changes in financial recording processes.Information is available to the last full financial year.2009/10 - £143,7112010/11 - £132,3992011/12 - £144,6412012/13 - £156,3022013/14 - £161,7732014/15 - £167,4352015/16 - £161,9632016/17 - £164,725

Africa: Cambridge Analytica

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with (a) the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, (b) the Kenyan Government and (c) the Nigerian Government on Cambridge Analytica's activities in those countries; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Foreign Secretary has not had any discussions on Cambridge Analytica activities with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport nor with the Kenyan or Nigerian governments.

Burma: International Development Select Committee

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Government of Burma on its decision not to provide visas to members of the International Development Committee.

Mark Field: We are disappointed at the refusal of the Burmese authorities to grant visas to the International Development Committee's members. In the run up to the Committee's visit, the FCO pressed for the visas to be granted, through calls to the Burmese Ambassador in London and representations to senior officials at the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The Minister for Asia and the Pacific summoned the Burmese Ambassador on 6 March to register formally the UK's grave concern at the refusal to grant the visas.

Malta: Nature Conservation

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in Malta on ensuring that the Maltese Government complies with its international obligations on the protection of birds.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Government remains firmly opposed to the illegal hunting of wildlife, and supports the European Commission's efforts to ensure Member State compliance with EU Directive 2009/147/EC on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Our High Commission in Malta continues to monitor the situation.

Foreign Relations

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on continued foreign policy co-operation after the UK has left the EU.

Boris Johnson: I regularly discuss future and existing foreign policy cooperation with my EU counterparts, including at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 19 March.

USA: Politics and Government

Gavin Newlands: Whether his Department plans to publish a position paper on political and diplomatic co-operation with the US after the UK leaves the EU.

Boris Johnson: The ties between the UK and US are of vital importance to the prosperity and national security of both countries. Since the referendum result, the UK has maintained an ongoing and productive dialogue with the US, including on how we will strengthen cooperation after the UK leaves the EU. There are no plans to publish a position paper on this.

Cyprus: Armed Conflict

Bambos Charalambous: What recent diplomatic steps he has taken to support a negotiated solution to the conflict in Cyprus.

Sir Alan Duncan: We strongly support a settlement. We continue to judge that, with political will, a settlement remains within reach. We have encouraged the Cypriot communities to work towards a resumption of talks and stand ready to discuss how we can support progress.

Climate Change Convention

Peter Aldous: What diplomatic steps his Department has taken to support the implementation of the Paris agreement on climate change.

Mark Field: Climate change is an existential threat, but also an opportunity to drive a global clean economy revolution. Our diplomats and Climate Envoy are working, with BEIS and international partners, to ensure international implementation of Paris Agreement commitments and project UK leadership including our Clean Growth Strategy and green Industrial Strategy.

Developing Countries: Rural Areas

John Mann: What steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of the advice available to mountaineers and explorers visiting remote areas overseas.

Harriett Baldwin: Our foreign travel advice covers 225 countries and territories. For many countries or regions that are popular with mountaineers and explorers, such as the Arctic, we include specific information on travel to remote areas. Travellers can use this alongside specialist advice from other sources to plan a safe and healthy trip, and we always recommend travellers take out appropriate insurance.

Department of Health and Social Care

Eating Disorders

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to reduce the average waiting time for treatment for an eating disorder.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with an eating disorder has access to timely treatment. We have established a waiting time standard to improve access to eating disorders services for children and young people so that by 2020/21 95% of children with an eating disorder will receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases. Latest figures published in the Mental Health Five Year Forward View Dashboard indicate that NHS England is on track to meet that standard with 76.9% of all patients starting urgent treatment within one week and 83.1% of patients starting routine treatment within four weeks. This information is for the third quarter of 2017-18. The Government is investing £150 million to expand eating disorder community-based care and as a result 70 dedicated new or extended services are now either open or in development. This means at least 3,350 children and young people a year will receive swift, effective eating disorder treatment in the community. To further improve adult eating disorder care a pathway, the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is developing a pathway and detailed implementation guidance for providers. The pathway will be fully informed by the available evidence and the views of experts and will increase healthcare professionals’ awareness of the early signs and symptoms of eating disorders so that they are able to refer without delay.

Diabetes: Chiropody

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding will be made available for multidisciplinary foot care teams through the Diabetes Transformation Fund in each of the next financial years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: NHS England plans to make £9.93 million from the Diabetes Transformation Fund available for multidisciplinary footcare teams in the financial year 2018-19. Figures for later financial years are not available.

Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on negotiating a new Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Steve Brine: Informal discussions have already begun with industry regarding future medicines pricing arrangements. Formal negotiations will begin during 2018.

Analgesics: Children

Helen Whately: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people under the age of 18 have been admitted to hospital as a result of overdosing on (a) paracetamol and (b) ibuprofenin in each of the last 10 years.

Steve Brine: The data requested is not held centrally.

Infant Mortality

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to tackle the increase in infant mortality identified by the Office for National Statistics from 2.6 neonatal deaths per 1,000 births in 2015 to 2.7 neonatal deaths per 1,000 births in 2016.

Jackie Doyle-Price: MBRRACE-UK is currently undergoing detailed analysis of the recent neonatal death statistics; this includes mortality adjusted in relation to important risk factors e.g. premature birth, congenital anomaly. NHS England will await the results of MBRRACE-UK’s analysis prior to making any new strategic plans relating specifically to the 0.1% increase in neonatal deaths in 2016. The Department remains committed to our ambition to halve the rates of neonatal and maternal deaths, stillbirths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth by 2025. Further information about the measures in place to achieve the ambition can be found here in the National Maternity Safety Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662969/Safer_maternity_care_-_progress_and_next_steps.pdf

Health: Children

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the recommendations of the Nuffield Trust report International comparisons of health and wellbeing in early childhood, published in March 2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We welcome the findings of this report, which acknowledges the genuine progress that England has made in many areas in recent years. We are committed to giving children the best start in life, and we will look closely at the report’s recommendations.

Health Start Scheme

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department plans to make of the effect of the Healthy Start scheme on the nutrition of pregnant women and young children; and if he will increase the value of the vouchers to meet the increasing cost of food.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Healthy Start Scheme helps to encourage a nutritious healthy diet for more than 326,000 pregnant women, families and children under four from low income households. The Government recommitted to the Healthy Start scheme in the 2016 plan ‘Childhood Obesity: A plan for Action’. The scheme has also been developed in other ways. For example, the addition of frozen fruit and vegetables in 2011 allows families to get more with their vouchers.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will remove the necessity for mothers to contact the Healthy Start Unit to inform them of the birth of their baby in order to receive Healthy Start vouchers and vitamins.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce a free telephone number for Healthy Start recipients to contact the Healthy Start Issuing Unit.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In order to determine continued eligibility for Healthy Start vouchers and vitamins, it is necessary for beneficiaries to contact the Healthy Start Issuing Unit (HSIU) to confirm their eligibility status. This is to ensure that beneficiaries are receiving the correct amount of vouchers per the number of children in the household. Calls to the HSIU cost no more than calls to standard United Kingdom landline phone numbers. An e-mail contact form is also available.

Dental Services: Bradford

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of dental practices in Bradford achieved 96 percent or more of their contracted units of dental activity in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money was clawed back by NHS England from dental practices in Bradford in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money clawed back from dental practices by NHS England was re-invested in dental practices in Bradford in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of money clawed back from dental practices by NHS England was re-invested in dental care in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Steve Brine: This information is not held centrally.

Mental Illness: Finance

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2018 to Question 130638, whether his Department will trial integrated money advice in primary mental health care settings.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has no immediate plans to trial integrated money advice in primary care settings. However, we are aware that general practitioner practices may signpost patients to debt advice services as part of their care and some practices have arrangements in place with local Citizens Advice Bureaux and debt advice services to provide outreach support in primary care. Mental health services, including Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services, may also signpost patients to debt advice services as part of their care.

Lymphoedema

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of availability of lymphodema services in England.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with lymphedema in each of the three years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: Data relating to the number of people diagnosed with lymphoedema is not collected, though prevalence estimates for the condition suggest that between 75,000 and 220,000 people in England are affected. No specific assessment of the availability of lymphoedema services has been made. The commissioning of services for the treatment and care of lymphoedema patients is a local matter. People with lymphoedema can usually be managed through routine access to primary or second care services, and there is a range of guidance, including an international consensus document and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, to support local commissioning.

Lymphoedema

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a plan to introduce NICE guidance for lymphedema treatment.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a number of clinical guidelines which include recommendations on the management of lymphoedema in cancer patients, including advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and treatment (CG81) and early and locally advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and treatment (CG80). NICE has also published interventional procedures guidance, which supports the use of liposuction for chronic lymphoedema (IPG588). There are no current plans for NICE to introduce an overarching guideline specifically on the treatment of lymphoedema.

Orkambi

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward the scheduled review of the Cystic Fibrosis drug Orkambi.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made for the implications for its policy of new data published by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in February 2018 on the Cystic Fibrosis drug Orkambi.

Steve Brine: The Government has made no such assessment itself. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether drugs and other treatments represent a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources. NICE published guidance on the use of Orkambi for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in July 2016 and was not able to recommend it for routine use on the NHS. NICE has advised that it has not been notified of any new data published in February 2018 related to the use of Orkambi. NICE periodically reviews its technology appraisal guidance to determine whether any new evidence, including new trial data, has emerged that may affect its original recommendations. NICE is next scheduled to review its guidance on the use of Orkambi in July 2019, at which point it will conduct a search for new evidence. NICE’s guidance may be reviewed before the expected review date if significant new evidence emerges that is likely to change the recommendations. The company or any other stakeholder can alert NICE to new evidence in line with its established processes to request an early review.

Orkambi

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions has his Department had with Cystic Fibrosis sufferers on the provision of the drug Orkambi by the NHS.

Steve Brine: The Government met with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which represents patients with cystic fibrosis, in March 2017 to discuss access to the drug Orkambi. The Government has also had regular correspondence with patients with cystic fibrosis concerning the availability of Orkambi. We are also aware that NHS England has been in regular contact with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust about this matter. The Government welcomes the ongoing discussions between NHS England and the manufacturer of Orkambi, Vertex, to seek to agree a deal that would make Orkambi available to National Health Service patients in a way that represents value to the taxpayer.

Care Quality Commission: Regulation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the recommendations directed towards the Care Quality Commission arising from the Cabinet Office's Regulatory Futures Review, published in January 2017.

Caroline Dinenage: The Cabinet Office’s Regulatory Futures Review made recommendations to regulatory bodies, of which the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is one. The CQC is in the process of implementing a more targeted, proportionate, responsive and collaborative approach to regulation that aligns with the principles of regulated self-assurance. The Department is still working through its response to the Regulatory Futures Review.

Orkambi

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential reduction in hospital admissions for people with cystic fibrosis were Orkambi to be made available on the NHS.

Steve Brine: The Department has made no assessment itself. However, in developing its technology appraisal guidance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, takes into account all the costs and savings associated with the treatment compared with existing clinical practice.

Electronic Cigarettes

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse from the health service encouraging the uptake of e-cigarettes among smokers.

Steve Brine: The potential financial impacts of e-cigarettes on the public purse are not yet fully understood. The evidence base is still evolving on these products, largely because vaping is still relatively new and the health effects may be very long term. Significant savings to the public purse are likely to arise only if smokers switch completely from smoked tobacco. The Government’s Tobacco Control Plan, published in July 2017, estimates that the National Health Service currently spends £2.5 billion on treating smoking-related diseases and Public Health England assess e-cigarettes to be at least 95% less harmful than smoked tobacco. Reduced harm may not translate exactly into proportional costs savings, but superficially this implies that vaping, as an alternative to smoking, may contribute to significant savings.

Electronic Cigarettes

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage smokers to give up by promoting the use of e-cigarettes.

Steve Brine: The Department has been clear that for smokers, quitting smoking completely is the best way to improve health. E-cigarettes are not risk free. However, the evidence is increasingly clear that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful to health than cigarettes and can help smokers to quit, particularly when combined with support from stop smoking services. The Government committed Public Health England (PHE), through the Tobacco Control Plan, published in 2017, to include messages about the relative safety of e-cigarettes in their quit smoking campaigns. PHE’s 2017 Stoptober campaign included e-cigarettes among the array of tools that smokers can use to help them quit and, in their New Year smoking health harms campaign, PHE reprised these messages. It is through this consistent messaging that the Government hopes to reverse the harmful, mistaken – and increasingly widespread – belief that vaping is no safer than smoking.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of people with Type 1 diabetes who self-fund a real-time continuous glucose monitor in (i) each clinical commissioning group and (ii) England and (b) the annual cost to people of self-funding that monitoring for the most recent year for which data is available.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not centrally held.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 have been released in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Health Services: Learning Disability

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with learning disabilities receive healthcare that is responsive to their needs.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of health inequalities associated with inadequate provision of healthcare on people with learning disabilities.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent guidance his Department has provided for NHS Foundation Trusts and clinical commissioning groups on staff training and improving the care of people with a learning disability.

Caroline Dinenage: Under the general practice Direct Enhanced Services scheme, people aged 14 and over who have been assessed as having moderate, severe or profound learning disabilities, or people with a mild learning disability who have other complex health needs are eligible for an Annual Health Check. Such checks are intended to ensure that any undetected health conditions are identified earlier and that on-going treatment and care is appropriate to the individual’s needs. ‘The Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19’ guidance, which was published jointly by NHS England and NHS Improvement, sets out the national ambition that by the end of 2018/19 there will be a 64% increase in the number of Annual Health Checks delivered by general practitioners to people on their Learning Disability Registers compared with 2016/17. The statutory Accessible Information Standard aims to reduce unacceptable variation in the provision of accessible information and communication support to disabled people, including those with a learning disability, thereby helping to increase their participation in choices about their care. It directs and defines a consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting individuals’ information and communication support needs, where those needs relate to a disability or sensory loss. All providers of National Health Service and/or adult social care have been required to follow the Standard in full since 31 July 2016. The 2014 Children and Families Act introduced new statutory duties that require clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to work together in joint arrangements to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with a learning disability. The Act created a duty for health agencies to ensure that health care provision in a child or young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan is secured. The NHS also has a legal responsibility under the Equality Act 2010 to take account of the special needs of the people with a learning disability. This includes the requirement to make reasonable adjustments to services, including the provision of regular health checks where appropriate. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing guidance on the prevention and treatment of ill health and the promotion of good health and social care. NICE has published a number of guidelines and other guidance that will support improvements to the quality of care that people with a learning disability receive. We expect clinical commissioning groups to take account of clinical guidelines published by NICE when commissioning services for their local populations. Through its learning disability programme, Health Education England is ensuring that the NHS workforce has the education and skills needed to effectively deliver and improve services for this patient group. These include resources to upskill the specialist NHS learning disabilities workforce, as well as resources to equip all healthcare professionals to deliver care to people with a learning disability in an appropriate and sensitive way. Additionally, both NHS England and NHS Improvement have published a range of resources to support the NHS workforce in delivering care that improves the lives of people with a learning disability. We have made no formal assessment of the economic effect of health inequalities associated with inadequate provision of healthcare on people with learning disabilities.

Learning Disability: Nurses

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of learning disability nurses working in the NHS.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of the NHS Bursary for nursing students on the number of applications to learning disability nursing courses.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nursing students have applied for learning disability nursing courses in each of the last seven years.

Stephen Barclay: The Department is not responsible for collecting data on the number of applications to study nursing degree courses. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service publishes data on the number of applications to full-time undergraduate courses. Further information and links to 2017 and 2018 application cycle data are available at: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis The Department is working with relevant bodies across health and education to monitor the effects of the broader healthcare funding reforms and, as part of this, plans to publish an update, in autumn 2018, following the closure of the 2017/18 application cycle. Eligible students will have access to National Health Service grants for childcare (£1,000), travel and accommodation and a hardship fund (£3,000), whilst attending clinical placements. In order to meet the growing need to increase the future supply of registered nurses, additional clinical placement funding was announced by the Department in August and October 2017. This will enable around 5,000 more nursing students to enter training each year from September 2018; an historic increase. Broadening routes into nursing is a priority for the Department. That is why we have developed the new nursing associate role and the Nurse Degree Apprenticeship which will open up routes into the registered nursing profession for thousands of people from all backgrounds and allow employers to grow their own workforce.

Mental Health Services: Hospital Beds

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to ensure (a) the availability of inpatient beds in acute psychiatric hospitals and (b) that sectioning under the Mental Health Act is only used as a last resort; and what assessment he has made of whether the availability of inpatient beds in acute psychiatric hospitals has had an effect on the number of sections under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health precipitated a five year programme aimed at building capacity within community-based services to reduce demand on the acute sector and in-patient beds and treat people closer to home. This work includes £400 million additional investment by 2021 for crisis resolution and home treatment teams, so that these services are available 24/7 and can help treat more people in the community and reduce hospital admissions. This programme also includes specific action to improve access to high quality acute mental health care, and to eliminate out of area placements. Following concerns about increasing incidence of detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 in recent years, in October 2017 my Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister commissioned an independent review to look at how the legislation and practice can be improved. Professor Sir Simon Wessely is leading the Review, which will publish an interim report in the spring and a final report in late 2018. The Care Quality Commission has examined the factors that may be affecting the rise of detentions under the Act, and reported this January. It identified a number of factors including changes in the law and its interpretation, demographic changes, improved data reporting, as well as pressure on beds. The report, “Mental Health Act – The rise in the use of the MHA to detain people in England” is available at: http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/themed-work/mental-health-act-rise-mha-detain-england

Obesity

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to tier 4 obesity services.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of tier 4 obesity services.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical commissioning groups have commissioned tier 3 obesity services in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of local authorities which have commissioned tier 3 obesity services in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to GPs on referring patients to tier 3 obesity services.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to evaluate the provision of weight management services for (a) children and young people and (b) adults in England.

Steve Brine: Clinical commissioning groups have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population including access to tier 4 obesity services. The Department has not made an assessment of the cost effectiveness of tier 4 obesity services. It is for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to provide national clinical guidance and advice, based on best evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness, for use of interventions, technology and devices. To help practitioners deliver the best possible care and give people the most effective treatments NICE has produced a suite of guidance on tackling obesity including “Obesity: identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in children, young people and adults”, which includes access to all tiers of obesity services. This guidance is available at: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg189 The Department does not hold information on the number of tier 3 obesity services commissioned by clinical commissioning groups or local authorities. Public Health England has explored the evidence base for tier 3 weight management interventions with adults and children, which concludes that tier 3 obesity services can provide positive outcomes and support to individuals in managing severe and often complex forms of obesity. Outputs from this work are published in: “Exploring the evidence base for Tier 3 weight management interventions for adults: a systematic review” and “Exploring the evidence base for Tier 3 specialist weight management interventions for children aged 2-18 years in the UK: a rapid systematic review”. These documents are available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28695579 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29228233

Health: Children

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the advertising of products high in fat, sugar and salt on children's health.

Steve Brine: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for the Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane MP) on 12 December 2017 to Question 117281.

Sexually Transmitted Infections: North West

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page nine of Tackling chlamydia: Local government’s new public health role, published by the Local Government Association in December 2014, what information his Department holds on steps taken by each (a) unitary and (b) upper tier local authority in North West England to reduce the incidence of chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases since the passing of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Steve Brine: Information on activities undertaken by each local authority is not collated nationally.

Cancer: Children

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to the parents of children who are receiving cancer treatment in hospital.

Steve Brine: All cancer patients will benefit from a tailored Recovery Package that ensures personalised care and support from the moment they are diagnosed. Patients will work with their care teams, to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses both their physical and mental health requirements as well as identify any other support they may require, such as help at home or financial advice. The Recovery Package includes Health and Wellbeing Events or Clinics. These are education and information events to support and enable people living with cancer and their families to take control and participate in their recovery, giving them necessary information, and promoting positive lifestyle change such as nutritional advice and encouragement to increase physical exercise. Health and Wellbeing Events are designed to help people get support that improves the quality of their lives, making these as long, healthy and active as possible.

Care Homes: Dagenham and Rainham

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve the quality of residential care in Dagenham and Rainham.

Caroline Dinenage: Although 81% of adult social care providers and 73% of care home beds are rated as good or outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, it is completely unacceptable that standards in some settings fall below those rightly expected by care users and their families. The Department is working with the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a shared commitment to achieve high quality adult social care for service users, families, carers and everyone working in the sector, through six actions. The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities in England to promote a diverse, sustainable, high quality market of care and support providers for people in their local area to meet their needs. The Department has supported local authorities with their market related duties through a sector-led approach and has brought together guidance and support in an on-line hub available on GOV.UK. This summer we will publish plans to reform our social care system to make it sustainable for the future. The consultation will set out options to put the social care system on a more secure footing and address issues to improve the quality of care and reduce variation in practice, including for those in the Dagenham and Rainham area.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of sleep-in back liability for providers in Bedfordshire.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) on 26 February 2018 to Question 128962.

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Greater London

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was allocated from the public purse to each clinical commissioning group area in London per head of population in each year since 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England’s published per capita allocation figures for each London clinical commissioning group (CCG) in the period 2015-16 to 2017-18 are set out in the table below. It should be noted that the published figures do not include any in-year adjustments.London CCGsPer capita allocation 2015/16 (£)Per capita allocation 2016/17 (£)Per capita allocation 2017/18 (£)NHS Barking and Dagenham CCG1,1821,2021,215NHS Barnet CCG1,0721,1231,135NHS Bexley CCG1,1641,2391,260NHS Brent CCG1,0731,0891,102NHS Bromley CCG1,1581,2261,239NHS Camden CCG1,2751,3441,329NHS City and Hackney CCG1,2221,2241,237NHS Croydon CCG1,0911,1541,171NHS Ealing CCG1,0651,1041,116NHS Enfield CCG1,1101,1731,189NHS Hounslow CCG1,0091,0631,075NHS Greenwich CCG1,2081,2431,257NHS Hammersmith and Fulham CCG1,2361,2311,235NHS Haringey CCG1,0911,1251,137NHS Harrow CCG9991,0701,088NHS Havering CCG1,1981,2691,293NHS Hillingdon CCG1,0451,1101,122NHS Islington CCG1,3301,3711,385NHS Kingston CCG1,0071,0551,067NHS Lambeth CCG1,1491,1621,175NHS Lewisham CCG1,2391,2771,291NHS Newham CCG1,0801,1081,120NHS Redbridge CCG1,0501,0961,108NHS Richmond CCG1,0181,0631,075NHS Southwark CCG1,1911,2431,257NHS Merton CCG9971,0621,074NHS Sutton CCG1,1541,2111,224NHS Tower Hamlets CCG1,1481,1721,185NHS Waltham Forest CCG1,0621,1231,136NHS Wandsworth CCG1,0301,0571,069NHS West London (K&C & QPP) CCG1,4411,4401,437NHS Central London (Westminster) CCG1,2801,2511,238

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff working for the Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust have been (a) non-UK EU citizens and (b) citizens of countries outside the EU in each year since 2015.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the number of non-United Kingdom European Union and non EU Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) staff employed in Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust between September 2015 and December 2017. HCHS staff in Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, as at the last day in each specified month, headcountHCHS staff in Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS TrustSeptember  2015September  2016September  2017December  2017European Union excluding UK440547541533European Economic Area4132Rest of World1,1591,1411,1751,196Unknown211193166163Source: NHS Digital NHS HCHS workforce statistics.

Clinical Trials: EU Law

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on alignment with the EU Clinical Trials Regulation after the UK leaves the EU.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the potential de-alignment with the EU’s Clinical Trials Regulation (CTR) on access to cancer treatments after the UK leaves the EU.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government values the strong collaborative partnerships that we have across the European Union in the areas of science, research and innovation, and as part of exit negotiations is working to ensure that we have the best possible environment in which to support the United Kingdom medical research sector and patient access to cross-border clinical trials after we leave the EU. In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Health Research Authority, ethics services, National Institute for Health Research and the National Health Service have been working towards implementation of the new European Clinical Trials Regulation (CTR) since it was agreed in 2014. The application date of the CTR across the EU is yet to be set by the European Commission, but is expected to be in early 2020. Whatever the outcome of the UK’s EU exit negotiations, the current regulatory approval legislation will stay in place until such time as any changes are needed, so there will be no interruption in UK clinical trials approval. The EU Withdrawal Bill will make the current UK clinical trials regulations (2004 2001/1031) that implement the clinical trials directive (2001/20/EC) operable on exit day and this is not contingent on any decision about whether the CTR will apply in the future.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason hospital handover delays in the East Dorset operational sector of the South Western Ambulance Service were (a) 38 hours on 26 December 2017 and (b) 19 minutes on 27 December 2017.

Stephen Barclay: Hospital handover performance is a matter for local National Health Service trusts. Data on handover delay times are not centrally collected in this format. NHS Improvement and NHS England are taking a joint approach to reduce patient handover delays, including: - improved monitoring and daily review of ambulance handover delays by national and regional winter operations teams;- targeted assistance to hospital trusts to improve handover performance; and- the issuing of revised, detailed hospital handover guidelines, focussing responsibility on the wider system to address handover delays, including clear escalation procedures.

Hospitals

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number (a) hospitals in each region and (b) the number of hospitals in each region which have hospital-based independent domestic violence advisors.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold data centrally on the number of hospitals by region. Independent Domestic Violence advisers (IDVAs) support the safety of victims and survivors of domestic violence at high risk of harm to secure their safety and the safety of their children. Data on IDVA services is collected by the charity SafeLives. In 2017, the percentage of IDVA services based in health settings was 15%. This data is from SafeLives’ 2017 Survey of domestic abuse practitioners in England and Wales, available from:  http://safelives.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/SafeLives%202017%20survey%20of%20domestic%20abuse%20practitioners-web_0.pdf Data is not available on the number of IDVAs based in hospital settings regionally.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the publication, The government's mandate to NHS England for 2018-19, published on 20 March 2018, for what reasons the (a) 18 week waiting time target for elective surgery and (b) 4 hour waiting time for emergencies will not be met until 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 132917, on Inflammatory Bowel Disease, if his Department will take further steps to ensure that every GP is made aware of the toolkit.

Steve Brine: It is not the role of the Department to directly promote clinical toolkits to clinicians. As set out in the previous answer, the developers of the toolkit, Crohn’s and Colitis UK with the Royal College of General Practitioners, have undertaken a range of activities to promote general practitioners’ awareness of the new resource following its launch last summer.

Headaches: West Midlands

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to open a fast-track one-stop clinic for cluster headache patients in the West Midlands.

Steve Brine: No assessment has been made and there are no plans to make such an assessment. Decisions on local service provision are a matter for local commissioners.

Nurses: Training

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications to study nursing were received in each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: The Department is not responsible for collecting data on the number of applications to study nursing degree courses. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service publishes data on the number of applications to full-time undergraduate courses. Further information and links to 2017 and 2018 application cycle data are available at: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis

Nurses: Training

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nursing students there were in each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: The table below shows the number of nursing students in training in any year of a nursing degree between 2010/11 and 2016/17. Academic year2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/17Number of nursing students52,83651,71352,811No data50,13951,38652,606 Notes:- Information prior to 2013 was sourced using the Department’s Financial Information Management System. Data collected after 2013 is sourced using the Health Education England EDCOM (Education Commissioning) reports.- Data for the 2013/14 academic years are not available due to commissioning moving from the Department to Health Education England.- Student numbers are recorded as of March in each academic year.- Data for 2017/18 are not yet available.

Obesity: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to evaluate the provision of weight management services for (a) children and young people and (b) adults in the West Midlands.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) is aware, through its Mapping of Weight Management Services in 2015, that the majority of local councils in the West Midlands provided weight management services for children, young people and adults. PHE has developed tools to support data collection for the purpose of locally evaluating services, though there are no current plans to evaluate the provision of weight management services in specific regions.

Mental Health Services: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many in-patient mental health beds have been available to patients in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not available in the format requested.

Addictions: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to addiction services in the West Midlands in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: Information on the funding of addiction services in the West Midlands is not held centrally. The figures on local authority alcohol and drug treatment actual spend are published annually and available online at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing

Department of Health and Social Care: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has met with representatives of the SCL group or Cambridge Analytica; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department or its agencies has entered into contracts with SCL group or Cambridge Analytica.

Caroline Dinenage: Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-overseas-travel-and-meetings As well as ministerial meetings, Departmental officials meet external organisations on a regular and ongoing basis. Neither the Department nor its Executive Agencies have entered into any contracts with the SCL group or Cambridge Analytica.

Dementia

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Green Paper on adult social care will look at short-term and long-term social care reforms for people with dementia.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the upcoming Green Paper on adult social care to publish recommendations; and what the timescale is for bringing forward legislative proposals as a result of that Green Paper.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government has committed to publishing a Green Paper by summer 2018, setting out its proposals for reform. Ahead of the Green Paper’s publication, the Government is working with experts, stakeholders and people using care and support services, including for people suffering from dementia, to shape social care reform in the near and longer term.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Maintaining momentum: driving improvements in mental health care, published by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in March 2018, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the failures by trusts identified in that report, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure similar failings do not occur, and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government takes seriously the report of the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman “Maintaining Momentum: Driving Improvements in Mental Health Care” published on 22 March 2018. The report documents cases of serious failings in National Health Service mental health services based on investigations into complaints received prior to the publication and Government acceptance of the recommendations of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. In October 2017, NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) launched a national mental health patient safety initiative. This is being supported by a national mental health quality improvement programme, led by NHS Improvement and informed by CQC intelligence as part of a joint strategic objective to ensure a shared view of quality. All mental health providers will be involved in this initiative, which has an emphasis on shared learning and the embedding of sustainable quality improvement approaches as integral to the way mental health services are delivered across the sector. The Department is currently considering with partner organisations and arm’s length bodies, including NHS England, how the findings of the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman’s report can be taken into account as part of the planned improvements to mental health services.

Mental Health: Refugees

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to address the mental health needs of refugees.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Anyone granted asylum, temporary protection or humanitarian protection under the Immigration Rules of section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is recognised as a refugee and able to access all health care services, including mental health care services, exempt from charges. If people experience symptoms of poor mental health, they can access evidence-based mental health treatment via their general practitioner (adults and children) or local (adult) Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services. For children and young people there will be locally agreed access arrangements. If further support, is needed, the National Health Service follows a stepped up model of care, whereby there is an assessment of need to in order to target the most specialist treatment at those displaying clinical symptoms. ‘Commissioning mental health services for vulnerable adult migrants’ (February 2015), was co-produced by MIND and NHS England, with the aim of supporting NHS commissioners and providers to provide timely, good quality and person-centred mental health services for vulnerable migrants, in particular refugees and those seeking asylum.

General Practitioners: ICT

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of GP’s satisfaction levels with GP clinical IT systems.

Steve Brine: The GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) is a contractual framework to supply IT systems and services to general practitioner (GP) practices and associated organisations in England. It makes sure GPs and practice staff can have access to the best technology to support patient care. The Framework requires suppliers of GP clinical IT systems in England to implement a service review mechanism. This allows for the conduct of customer satisfaction surveys and the preparation of service reports to provide information on the success of the GPSoC Services from the point of view of the end-user. We have not requested any satisfaction surveys or reports recently. Further satisfaction surveys of end users of GP clinical IT systems may be undertaken by suppliers or by clinical professional groups representing user groups. As these are not initiated by the Department, no data is held on these.

General Practitioners: ICT

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the cost per patient of the NHS migrating IT clinical systems to a new supplier.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In England the clinical commissioning group (CCG) fund practice migrations and place the order for the IT systems on behalf of the practice while the Government pays for the essential parts. The CCG or the practice will then pay for additional features. General practitioner (GP) practices can apply to NHS England for reimbursement of costs including the purchase, upgrading and maintenance of IT used by the practice in relation to the delivery of GP services. CCGs are paid a contribution of £2,000 from NHS Digital to support a practice migration. That contribution provides central funding of 25p per patient towards the cost of the average practice migrating to a new supplier.

General Practitioners

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the NHS budget is projected to be spent on General Practice in 2018-19; and how much and what proportion of the NHS budget was spent on general practice in each year since 2009-10.

Steve Brine: The proportion of National Health Service funding spent on general practice in each year between 2010/11 and 2016/17, together with NHS England’s projected spend for 2017/18 and 2018/19 is presented in the table below. No comparable data on NHS front-line spend were available for 2009/10. Responsibility for NHS spending was devolved to NHS England after 2013/14 Cash Figures for General Practice and Front Line NHS Spend (£ millions) Department of Health and Social Care Oversight of General PracticeNHS England Oversight of General Practice 2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19General Practice8,3508,3978,4608,83191739,69710,20410,47911,037NHS Frontline Spend100,418102,844105,22192,80395,99599,718104,272107,663110,177

Mental Health Services

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was from diagnosis to referral for treatment for mental health illnesses in each of the last seven years in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) in England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected in the format requested.

Postnatal Depression

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what specialist treatment is available for mothers suffering post-natal depression in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This Government is committed to improving perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year, so that women are able to access the right care at the right time and close to home. The Department is investing £365 million from 2015/16 to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services, and NHS England is leading a transformation programme to ensure that by 2020/21 at least 30,000 more women each year are able to access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period. This includes access to psychological therapies and specialist community or inpatient care. As part of this programme, NHS England is expanding the capacity of inpatient Mother and Baby units (MBUs): Four new, eight-bedded MBUs have been commissioned to provide specialist care and support to mothers who experience severe mental ill health during and after pregnancy in areas of the country with particular access issues. Additionally, the number of beds is increasing in existing units, expanding the current capacity by 49% by the end of 2018/19. In addition, the programme includes implementation of a specialist perinatal mental health Community Services Development Fund, which is providing £60 million between 2016/17 and 2018/19 to support development and expansion of specialist community services across the country. In the London Borough of Southwark, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust provides a Southwark community perinatal service which identifies, assesses and treats women with moderate to severe psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the postnatal period (from preconception up to a maximum of one year postpartum), funded by the clinical commissioning group. Southwark residents can also access a specialist mother and baby Inpatient unit on South London and Maudsley’s Bethlem site in the London Borough of Bromley which is funded by NHS England and is available nationally to patients meeting the admission criteria.

Eating Disorders

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to increase the (a) overall funding available for adult eating disorder services and (b) per-bed funding for adult eating disorder inpatients; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England has commissioned the NHS Benchmarking Network to undertake a data collection exercise in 2017-18 looking at both inpatient and community based provision for adult eating disorder services. This exercise will assess levels of investment and access and will also consider the profile and skill mix of the supporting workforce. This data collection exercise will enable NHS England to measure levels of geographical variation, and to model the cost and workforce implications for any future planned service improvement.

Postnatal Depression

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money has been spent on post-natal mental health services in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) England in each of the last 7 years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not available in the format requested.

Patients: Catering

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average amount spent on each patient was for catering services in each region in each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not available in the format requested.

Hospitals: Food Poisoning

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have fallen ill due to food in hospitals in each region and in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected centrally. National Health Service trusts are locally responsible for compiling their own menus and making decisions about the food served. All patients deserve basic standards of care when they are in hospital and good food is one of them.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of his Department's estate is (a) rented, (b) owned and (c) occupied through any other type of agreement.

Robert Buckland: The Attorney General's Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Attorney General: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Drew Hendry: To ask the Attorney General, whether he has met representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (c) Cambridge Analytica in the last five years.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Attorney General, whether his Department has held contracts with (i) SCL Group, (ii) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (iii) Cambridge Analytica.

Robert Buckland: Neither the Attorney General or I have met representatives of the SCL Group, Strategic Communication Laboratories or Cambridge Analytica in the last five years; nor does the department hold contracts with any of those organisations.

Money Laundering

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127856 on money laundering, how many of those businesses have been fined more than once; and what the (a) average, (b) lowest and (c) highest value of those fines was.

Robert Buckland: The Attorney General's Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Development

Israel: Palestinians

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is providing to projects facilitating peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis.

Alistair Burt: The UK is providing support to fund a people-to-people programme to help Israelis and Palestinians work together to achieve tangible improvements in their lives, foster inter-community understanding and help build constituencies for a just and peaceful political solution. This three year programme – People for Peaceful Change – will facilitate interaction between youth leaders, religious communities and strengthen co-operation in the health sector. Ultimately the only way to achieve coexistence is through a negotiated two-state solution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment has his Department has made of the feasability of conducting airdrops of humanitarian aid in Syria.

Alistair Burt: Aid delivered by road by trusted humanitarian partners is by far the most effective way to meet needs in Syria and to ensure that it reaches those most in need. We have, however, examined all options as part of our determination to do everything we can to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. Airdrops, manned or using drones, are not capable of meeting either the scale of needs or delivering many of the kinds of aid that could address the priority needs that we see in Syria (e.g. safe drinking water, health support). Furthermore, we judge that such an operation would carry a high level of risk because the consent is needed of those who control the airspace and those on the ground that could threaten aircraft. There is nothing to suggest that the Assad regime would provide such consent, given that it continues to use the denial of aid as a weapon of war.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of using unarmed drones to deliver humanitarian aid in Syria.

Alistair Burt: Aid delivered by road by trusted humanitarian partners is by far the most effective way to meet needs in Syria and to ensure that it reaches those most in need. We have, however, examined all options as part of our determination to do everything we can to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. Airdrops, manned or using drones, are not capable of meeting either the scale of needs or delivering many of the kinds of aid that could address the priority needs that we see in Syria (e.g. safe drinking water, health support). Furthermore, we judge that such an operation would carry a high level of risk because the consent is needed of those who control the airspace and those on the ground that could threaten aircraft. There is nothing to suggest that the Assad regime would provide such consent, given that it continues to use the denial of aid as a weapon of war.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State of State for International Development, what recent steps the Government has taken to help alleviate the humanitarian situation in Afrin; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Where they are able, UK-funded partners are delivering humanitarian assistance in Afrin and to those fleeing the area. This includes health, water, food relief and protection services. The UK Government has called for de-escalation and the protection of civilians in Afrin, while recognising Turkey’s legitimate interest in the security of its borders. The Prime Minister has raised the need for protection of civilians and proper humanitarian access with President Erdoğan, as has the Foreign Secretary with Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu.

Department for International Development: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has met representatives of the SCL group or Cambridge Analytica.

Alistair Burt: Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. DFID’s can be found at the following link: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/dfid-sos-gifts-travel-hospitality-meetings-may-july-2010.

Department for International Development: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department or its agencies has entered into contracts with SCL group or Cambridge Analytica; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: DFID has no record of any contracts with the SCL group or Cambridge Analytica. Details of DFID contracts above the OJEU threshold are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive. Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.

Developing Countries: Taxation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January to Question 124954 on Colombia and Lesotho: Taxation, what discussions officials in her Department had with HMRC on the (a) Lesotho, (b) Columbia and (c) Kyrgyzstan tax treaties.

Harriett Baldwin: Officials at the Department for International Development did not have any specific discussions with HMRC on tax treaty negotiations between the UK and Lesotho, Colombia or Kyrgyzstan. HMRC is the lead department for the negotiation of the UK’s tax treaties, reporting to HM Treasury Ministers. HMRC seeks views from a range of interested parties, including DFID, and then takes a judgement about which countries to seek to engage with. DFID has supported this approach which led to recent successful negotiations with Colombia, Lesotho and Kyrgyzstan.

Department for Education

Apprentices: Leeds North West

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of people undertaking paid apprenticeships in Leeds North West constituency.

Anne Milton: The department holds and publishes a range of data relating to apprenticeships using the information collected through the Individualised Learner Record. For example, information on the number of learners starting apprenticeships by geographical area, including by parliamentary constituency is published on GOV.UK. The table below provides apprenticeship starts for the Leeds North West Constituency in the 2016/17 academic year and in the first quarter of the 2017/18 academic year: 2016/172017/18 Quarter 1Apprenticeship Starts530130 Notes: 1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.2) 2016/17 covers August 2016 to July 2017, and 2017/18 Quarter 1 covers August to October 2017.3) 2017/18 Quarter 1 is reported to date and will be subject to revision. These data are published in the ‘FE data library’ on GOV.UK:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships. Additionally, statistics showing the destinations outcomes of learners completing apprenticeships between 2014 and 2015 are available in the ‘Further education outcome-based success measures’ publication:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-outcome-based-success-measures-2014-to-2015. For example, in the Leeds Local Authority District, 4,130 apprentices in 2014/15 completed apprenticeships with 87% going a sustained positive destination, 83% were in sustained employment, and 19% were in sustained learning. It should also be noted, that all learners starting apprenticeships are paid at least the minimum wage (https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide/pay-and-conditions). Additional information on the rules and regulations of employing apprentices is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/take-on-an-apprentice.

Pupil Referral Units: Staff

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of (a) support and (b) funding for staff employed at Pupil Referral Units.

Nick Gibb: Developing and supporting teachers and leaders is fundamental to driving up educational standards in alternative provision (AP) and improving outcomes for children educated in these settings. On 16 March 2018, the Department launched a £4 million Alternative Provision Innovation Fund to support projects to develop effective practice across AP. The second round of the Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund, launched in January 2018, also welcomed bids to support high-quality professional development for teachers and school leaders in AP. Local authorities receive high needs funding to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and to fund good quality AP, including in pupil referral units. High needs funding will rise to a total of £6 billion in 2018-19.

Free School Meals: Primary Education

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of primary school children were eligible for free schools meals in (a) 2009-2010, (b) 2013-2014 and (c) 2017-2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: For 2010, the number and percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals are 717,060 and 17.3%, respectively. For 2014, the number and percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals are 755,485 and 17.0%, respectively. For 2017, the number and percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals are 666,708 and 14.1%, respectively. The ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2018’ statistical release will be released in June 2018, (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2018).

Pre-school Education: Recruitment

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Early Years Workforce Strategy published in March 2017,whether his Department has completed a feasibility study into a programme to grow the graduate early years workforce in disadvantaged areas.

Anne Milton: We are considering the feasibility of a range of approaches to supporting graduates in the early years workforce – including in disadvantaged areas. This work is still underway.

Pre-school Education: Recruitment

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the article in Nursery World, Colleges cause confusion by stating need for GCSEs, published on 19 March 2018, if he will publish the correspondence between his Department and the Association of Colleges of their duties in relation to early years recruitment.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Association of Colleges (AoC) does not have any duties in relation to early years recruitment. The article stated that the colleges with incorrect information have already corrected their websites. The department has written to the AoC to ask them to remind their members of the change in English and maths requirements for entry to level 3 early years job roles made in April 2017.

Pre-school Education: Recruitment

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s publication, Guidance for Young People 2017 to 2018 reflects the policy of his Department to reinstate functional skills as an entry route for those wanting to work in early years settings.

Anne Milton: The Education and Skills Funding Agency funding guidance for young people does not include information on which qualifications are valid for careers in particular sectors. Therefore we do not intend to update the guidance to include information on functional skills as an entry route for work in early years settings. Functional skills have always been eligible for funding in programmes for students who are also studying early years qualifications. However, students on a 16 to 19 study programme must meet the condition of funding for maths and English, which may require some students to study GCSE rather than functional skills.

Arts: English Baccalaureate

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the English Baccalaureate on access to creative subjects.

Nick Gibb: Music and the arts are compulsory in maintained schools until the end of Key Stage 3 (age 14). The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) has been designed to be limited in its size in order to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the Key Stage 4 curriculum for the study of other subjects. In July 2017, the department published an analysis of the trends in arts uptake in state-funded mainstream schools where EBacc entry has seen an increase since 2010/11. This analysis shows that there is little correlation between the change in EBacc entry and the change in arts uptake, though what correlation exists suggests that schools where EBacc entry has increased tend to have also seen an increase in their arts uptake. The proportion of pupils in state funded schools taking at least one arts subject has remained broadly stable since 2010. The analysis is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trends-in-arts-subjects-in-schools-with-increased-ebacc-entry.

Primary Education: Admissions

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on giving summer-born and premature children the right to start reception at the age of five.

Nick Gibb: The Department is giving careful consideration to how these changes may be made in a way that avoids unintended consequences elsewhere in the system. Any changes to the Admissions Code will require a statutory process, including consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. The Department will consider the appropriate time for consulting on these changes in the context of competing pressures on the parliamentary timetable.

Primary Education: Admissions

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of giving summer-born and premature children the right to start reception at the age of five.

Nick Gibb: The costs of this change would depend on the level of take up, which is difficult to predict. We are gathering evidence to help us better estimate the likely take up and costs. If large numbers of parents choose to delay their summer born child’s entry to reception, the costs could be significant.

Pre-school Education: Non-domestic Rates

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations his Department has received from Early Years providers on the effect of the level of business rates on the financial viability of their companies.

Nadhim Zahawi: Ministers and officials often meet early years providers and the department regularly receives correspondence from childcare and early years settings on a wide variety of topics related to the early years, including cost pressures. We have been clear that getting our funding rates right is key to the successful delivery of our childcare entitlements, and we are happy to hear from providers and other organisations on this.

Schools: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pupil-teacher ratio, including teaching assistants, is in schools in Southampton.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the average pupil to teacher/teaching assistant ratio in state funded schools in Southampton local authority area and England in November 2016 the latest year available.[1] November 2017 figures will be available in the summer.   State Funded Schools[2] SouthamptonEngland201610.211.1Source: School Workforce Census [1] The within-school Pupil:Teacher/Teaching Assistant Ratio (qualified and unqualified teachers) is calculated by dividing the total FTE number of pupils on roll in schools in each year by the total number of FTE teachers and FTE teaching assistants in schools in each year. Where schools are not open on Census (January) they are excluded. See School Workforce Census methodology document for further information: Methodology: SFR25/2017[2] Excludes centrally employed staff.

Special Educational Needs: Vocational Guidance

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) careers advice and (a) guidance his Department has made available for pupils with SEND.

Anne Milton: Secondary schools and colleges are responsible for making sure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), receive high quality careers information, advice and guidance. We revised our statutory guidance for schools in January 2018 to make clear that schools should follow the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s benchmarks of excellent careers provision. Our guidance includes advice for schools to help them make sure that all pupils, including those with SEND, are supported to fulfil their potential.The government’s careers strategy contains a number of proposals to improve careers advice for pupils with SEND, including:A good practice guide for schools and colleges by The Careers & Enterprise Company and the Gatsby Foundation.Training for Enterprise Advisers (senior volunteers from business who support schools with their careers programme) so they are confident helping people with SEND.Funding for the Education and Training Foundation to provide professional development for practitioners working with young people with SEND. We will also be funding grants to establish good practice in innovative ways of working with young people with SEND and their parents, to inspire them to look at broader careers and further education options.

Vocational Guidance: Finance

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Careers Strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents, published in December 2017, what plans his Department has for the future funding of careers hubs after the £5 million has been allocated.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release, Careers guidance for modern country announced on 4 December 2018, how the £5 million allocated to boosting careers support in the areas of the country most in need will be distributed.

Anne Milton: The government’s careers strategy, published on 4 December 2017, sets out a long- term plan to build a careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them. The strategy provided £5 million of funding to test 20 career hubs linking together schools, colleges, universities and other local organisations. We are investing over £70 million on careers each year until 2020 to support young people and adults. Future investment on careers, as with all departmental expenditure, will be considered as part of the next Spending Review. To target more support on those who need it most, the government has announced a further £5 million investment fund in 2018-2019. The fund will be split as follows: £2.5 million of funding to help disadvantaged pupils to get the additional support they need to prepare for work, including opportunities for mentoring and guidance. £2.5 million of funding to support the development of new innovative, cost effective models, for delivering personal careers guidance to schools and colleges. More information about careers hubs and the investment fund can be found in The Careers & Enterprise Company’s implementation plan: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploaded/careers-enterprise-careers-strategy-implementation-plan.pdf. Further information, including prospectuses inviting bids, will be published by The Careers & Enterprise Company in Spring 2018.

Schools: Asbestos

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the removal of asbestos from the school estate in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 March 2018 to 133602 and 133603 available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=133602.

Primary Education: Literacy

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children starting primary school had literacy skills below the expected school-ready level in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: This information is in the public domain as the Department publishes statistics on attainment in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) for children at the end of reception year. The percentage of children achieving at least the expected level across all the learning goals in the Literacy area of learning, for years 2013 to 2017, is published within table 2b of the ‘Early years foundation stage profile results: 2016 to 2017’ statistical first release. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results-2016-to-2017.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish its proposals on increasing the number of early years teachers in disadvantaged areas.

Nadhim Zahawi: We are considering a range of approaches to supporting graduates in the early years workforce, including in disadvantaged areas and their feasibility. This work is still underway.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many training places have been (a) available and (b) unfilled for early years teachers in each year since 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: There is no supply model to determine the number of early years teachers required and there is not a target set for recruitment of such teachers. We continue to make early years initial teacher training places available based on demand as evidence shows that the quality of early years provision is higher when led by specially trained graduates. Experimental statistics on new entrants to early years initial teacher training for the academic year 2017/18 are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2017-to-2018.

Children's Centres: Inspections

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2018 to Question 132134, on Children's Centres: Standards, whether he has made any additional resources available to local authorities to carry out inspections in place of Ofsted inspections.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities are not required to carry out children’s centre inspections in place of Ofsted inspections. Registered early years provision within children’s centres will continue to be inspected by Ofsted as part of the Common Inspection Framework. Children’s centre inspections are suspended and local authorities are responsible for managing children’s centres and ensuring the services they provide through children’s centres meet appropriate quality standards.

Nurseries: Teachers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of nurseries which have employed (a) one and (b) more than one Early Years Teacher in each year since 2010.

Nadhim Zahawi: Early Years Teacher Status was introduced in 2013. Therefore, we do not hold information dating back to 2010. The Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers England (2013) did not collect data on Early Years Teachers, but did record the overall number of practitioners qualified to level 6 (degree level) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/355075/SFR33_2014_Main_report.pdf.The next wave of the Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers England conducted in 2016 included a new question to collect information on those holding Early Years Teacher Status (Figure 4.6) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2016.

Open University

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on the future of the Open University; and what recent assessment he has made of its effect on levels of adult education.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Open University (OU) is the largest provider of part-time higher education in England, which is enabling individuals to gain new skills and advance their careers, and supporting the wider economy. In the 2016/17 academic year, it accounted for 27 per cent of all entrants to part-time undergraduate higher education courses in England.All higher education providers, including the OU, are autonomous bodies and, as such, their business models and financial plans are a matter for the governing body of that institution. Part-time study and distance learning are clearly central to the OU’s business model.The government is taking steps to support people who want to study part-time and the work of the review of post-18 education and funding will look at how we can further encourage learning that is more flexible while complementing our ongoing work to support people to study at different times in their lives.

Children and Young People: Mental Illness

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure teachers in schools are able to identify (a) eating disorders, (b) anxiety, and (c) depression in children and young people.

Nick Gibb: The Government has taken action to improve the knowledge school staff have about mental health. The Department of Health and Social Care is funding Mental Health First Aid training to all secondary schools, and has committed to offering training in mental health awareness to every primary school during this Parliament. In addition the Government has funded MindEd, a free online portal that provides training for all adults working with children and young people about mental health problems. The Department will also be updating its Mental Health and Behaviour guidance later this year, which provides advice to schools on how to identify pupils who need additional support.The green paper Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision sets out proposals to improve support for schools to identify those pupils who need mental health support, backed with over £300 million in funding.The Government is incentivising schools to put in place a Designated Senior Lead for mental health by providing training on how to promote and support good mental health and wellbeing and to identify where a pupil might have a mental health issue. The lead will be supported by new, clinically-supervised Mental Health Support Teams based in or near schools, which will provide support for those with mild to moderate needs, and better links to specialist NHS services for those who need them.

Students: Fees and Charges

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of university tuition fees on the financial viability of students attending university.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The student finance system ensures upfront costs of tuition are not a barrier to accessing higher education. Eligible students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can apply for up-front fee loans to meet the full costs of their tuition. Full-time students from disadvantaged backgrounds also have access to the highest ever amounts of cash in hand loan support for their living costs. Monthly loan repayments are linked to income, not to interest rates or the amount borrowed. The current system has enabled record numbers of 18 year olds to benefit from higher education with progress continuing to be made on widening participation. There is a record entry rate for 18 year olds going to university for full-time study, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The government publishes Equality Analyses setting out the impact of the annual changes to student finance on protected and disadvantaged groups of students.

Students: Loans

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2018 to Question 131183, if he will provide a breakdown of the advisory and transaction costs in the sale of the student loan book.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The advisory and transaction costs from 2013/14 to the closing of the sale in December 2017 are broken down in the attached table. The cost against the proceeds of the sale (£1.7 billion) is less than 1 per cent and the preparation and execution spanned five years.



Advisory_and_Transaction_Costs_2013/14_to_Dec2017
(Word Document, 12.51 KB)

Secondary Education: Pupil Exclusions

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary school children have been off-rolled by their school in (a) the London Borough of Southwark, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last seven years.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of pupils taken off roll. Local authorities have a duty to make arrangements to establish the identities of children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise.The law is clear that a pupil’s name can only be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended.If a school removes a child from their roll when not at the point of a standard transition, it must inform the local authority and set out the grounds for their action. When removing a pupil’s name, the notification to the local authority must include: (a) the full name of the pupil, (b) the full name and address of any parent with whom the pupil normally resides, (c) at least one telephone number of the parent, and (d) the pupil’s future address and destination school, if applicable.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to oral evidence provided by the Under-Secretary of State to the Education Select Committee on 14 March 2018, whether the review of 30 hours of funded childcare will include eligibility criteria.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has commissioned an independent evaluation of the first year of delivery of 30 hours free childcare. This is due to be published in the summer and we will use the evidence from the report to inform the future delivery of the programme.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Temporary Employment

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people his Department has employed as contingent labour in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate costHowever, the annual published MoJ Accounts can provide some details towards the question you have asked in this PQ. Link can be found below:https://www.gov.uk/search?q=Ministry+of+Justice+annual+report+and+accounts

Ministry of Justice: Temporary Employment

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average hourly rate paid by his Department is for an agency worker in each category of role for which his Department uses agency workers.

Rory Stewart: The rates for agency staff differ across contracts due to variable such as location, number of hours, experience. Some contracts have rate cards which include Target and Max rates per day/per role, other rates vary due to length of services and Agency Worker Right. Other factors also can adjust the rates paid such has how the worker is engaged e.g. PAYE or as a Ltd Company.

Dame Glenys Stacey

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 131630 on Dame Glenys Stacey, what date did was the secondment of the HM Chief Inspector of Probation to the Department of Food and Rural Affairs agreed by Ministers; and what assessment was made of the effect of that secondment on the work of  HM Inspectorate of Probation for England and Wales .

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 131630 on Dame Glenys Stacey, what additional (a) costs (b) staffing has the Department allocated to HM Inspectorate of Probation for England and Wales as a result of the secondment of Dame Glenys Stacey to the Department for Food and Rural Affairs.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 131630 on Dame Glenys Stacey, what changes to the (a) pay and (b) conditions will be made in respect of the secondment of Dame Glenys Stacey to the Department of Food and Rural Affairs.

Rory Stewart: Dame Glenys Stacey is chairing the review as opposed to being seconded to DEFRA. The review was agreed by ministers on 20th February 2018. It is currently underway, and is planned to be completed by the end of the calendar year. Dame Glenys continues to perform her HMI Probation duties. It is for HMI Probation to ensure it has in place the staff and expertise necessary to deliver its function to the normal high standard. There has not been any additional costs or staffing allocated to HM Inspectorate of Probation as a result of Dame Glenys Stacey becoming the chair of the Farm Inspection Review. There have not been any changes to the pay or conditions of Dame Glenys as a result of her becoming the chair of the Farm Inspection Review.

Offenders: Foreign Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders there are in UK prisons.

Rory Stewart: As at 31 December 2017 (latest published figures) there were 9,012 foreign national prisoners held in prisons in England and Wales, with a further 328 held in the HMPPS operated Immigration Removal Centre. Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. More than 40,000 foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010, and in the last financial year a record number of over 6,300 were removed.

Vehicle Number Plates: Prosecutions

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions have been brought for the use of illegal car registration plates in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: The Department for Transport are responsible for the policy and legislation governing vehicle registration numbers, which must be displayed in accordance with the legal requirements contained in the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001. Data on offences committed under the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 are not reported centrally to the Ministry of Justice. Such information may be held by the individual courts in England and Wales but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Custodial Treatment: Females

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many female offenders received an immediate custodial sentence of (a) less than six months and (b) more than six months in each police force area in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Dr Phillip Lee: The number of custodial sentences issued to female offenders in England and Wales, by police force area, from 2012 to 2016, can be viewed in the table attached.We are committed to doing all we can to address the issues around female offending so we can better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation. That is why we plan to set out a strategy for female offenders, to improve outcomes and services for women in both the community and custody.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 18.16 KB)

Prisons: Income

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2018 to Question 131180, how much commercial income there was from (a) prison shops, (b) industries and (c) farms in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2017.

Rory Stewart: Income from the sale of goods and services for external sales from industries and retail prison shops for financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17 are published in the 2016/17 National Offender Management Service’s Annual Report and Accounts. The information requested can be found on page 112 within the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630533/6.3329_NOMS_AR_180717_19_July_web.pdf. Figures for the 2017/18 financial year will be published once they are audited and finalised after the end of March. Information on income generated from prison farms is not recorded or collated separately.

Treasury

Taxation

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will ensure that safeguards are in place so that tax rulings are properly scrutinised before coming into force and subject to monitoring thereafter.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) gives tax rulings where the law provides for it to do so. It also provides its opinion on the application of tax law to a specific transaction or event.Rulings are generally specific to the individual circumstances or transactions and are not published, nor applied more widely for confidentiality reasons.If the ruling is more general, this is often in response to a decision by a Court, so will be carefully considered before being published and subsequently monitored in line with HMRC’s usual policy.

Taxation

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff employed by HMRC are involved in creating and approving each individual tax ruling.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not have a central team for providing tax rulings. Rulings are provided as part of the wider work of HMRC’s tax specialists. This approach allows requests for rulings to be directed quickly to the relevant tax areas and helps HMRC to respond as effectively as possible.This approach means that detailed information regarding the number of staff engaged on each ruling is not recorded. There is a small administration team that registers and manages the applications for rulings that HMRC receives.

Tax Evasion: Criminal Investigation

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many high net worth individuals have been placed under criminal investigation for tax affairs in each year since 2009.

Mel Stride: The information requested can be found in the 2016 National Audit Office Report on “HMRC’s approach to collecting tax from high net worth individuals” at Part 3, paragraph 3.10 – 3.12: “3.10 Where an enquiry identifies suspected fraud by a high net worth taxpayer the case must be referred to HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service. Each case will be considered for criminal investigation. Where HMRC believes there is insufficient evidence to prove a criminal offence has been committed, it can carry out a civil investigation to recover the unpaid tax and interest, and charge penalties. Figure 14 shows the results of cases referred to the Fraud Investigation Service by the high net worth unit since 2011-12 that have resulted in a civil enquiry and settlement. 3.11 HMRC gathers evidence against people but does not prosecute them itself.3 It is the prosecuting authorities who decide whether to prosecute a case, based on the strength of evidence and whether a prosecution is in the public interest. Since 2009, two cases involving high net worth individuals have been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. One case was taken up by the Crown Prosecution Service and successfully prosecuted. This was for inheritance tax evasion and was connected to the data about account holders that was leaked from HSBC’s Swiss bank. These data showed that the taxpayer had made false statements about the extent of their overseas assets. The second case was not taken up due to insufficient evidence. At October 2016 HMRC was criminally investigating a further 10 high net worth individuals. 3.12 HMRC received funding as part of the 2015 Summer Budget to triple the number of criminal investigations that it can undertake into serious and complex tax crime, focusing particularly on wealthy individuals and corporates. Its aim is to increase the number of its cases accepted by prosecuting authorities in this area to 100 a year by the end of the Parliament. There is no specific target for an increase in the number of criminal investigations into high net worth individuals as part of this commitment”.  As of 3rd April 2017, HMRC have brought together their High Net Worth Unit and Affluent teams to form a single Wealthy team. This organisational change is promoting tax compliance and tackling non-compliance across the whole of the wealthy customer group. These changes will ensure we deploy our specialist, highly skilled resource on those wealthy individuals that present the highest compliance risk. 



figure 14
(Word Document, 38.18 KB)

Income Tax

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much income tax was paid by people who fall under the jurisdiction of HMRC’s high net worth unit in each year since 2014-15.

Mel Stride: The information requested can be found in the 2016 National Audit Office Report on “HMRC’s approach to collecting tax from high net worth individuals” at Figure 3, attached.As of 3rd April 2017, HMRC have brought together their High Net Worth Unit and Affluent teams to form a single Wealthy team. This organisational change is promoting tax compliance and tackling non-compliance across the whole of the wealthy customer group. These changes will ensure we deploy our specialist, highly skilled resource on those wealthy individuals that present the highest compliance risk. 



Figure 3 
(Word Document, 51.76 KB)

Tax Avoidance

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many penalties HMRC issued to high net worth individuals in each year since 2009; and what was the total value of these penalties.

Mel Stride: A new management system for high net worth individuals was introduced from 2011-12. HMRC do not have access to accurate data from management systems prior to that period.From 2012-13 to 2015-16, the High Net Worth Unit issued nearly 850 penalties to high net worth individuals. These totalled £9 million, with an average value of around £10,000 per penalty. Further information can be found in the 2016 National Audit Office Report on “HMRC’s approach to collecting tax from high net worth individuals” at Part 3, paragraph 3.9, copied at point 3 in the Background note attached to this draft. As of 3rd April 2017, HMRC have brought together their High Net Worth Unit and Affluent teams to form a single Wealthy team. This organisational change is promoting tax compliance and tackling non-compliance across the whole of the wealthy customer group. These changes will ensure we deploy our specialist, highly skilled resource on those wealthy individuals that present the highest compliance risk.

Revenue and Customs: ICT

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse of HMRC’s connect programme was; and what the value of revenue raised through the programme was in each of the last five years.

Mel Stride: HMRC does not hold information separately on the costs of Connect because it relies upon a range of independent IT platforms, data management and acquisition processes. The most recent estimate of costs, in December 2015, was that HMRC had invested more than £90m since 2010. It is not possible to provide an exact figure for revenue raised each year exclusively relating to Connect because settled tax investigations are often identified using more than one profiling tool or process. However, Connect is integral to over 95% of all HMRC compliance cases, although other tools, data and approaches also support this work. The table below shows the total compliance revenue achieved by HMRC in the last 5 years. 2012/132013/142014/152015/162016/17*£20,722m£23,926m£26,558m£26,607m£28,855m * HMRC’s methodology for measuring compliance yield changed in 2016/17. Further details can be found in the document below. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-17-executive-summary

Revenue and Customs: Finance

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Statement, how much of the £155 million in resources and technology for HMRC has already been invested; and how much has been raised as a result of that investment.

Mel Stride: HMRC will receive an extra £155 million up to 2019-20 to increase their compliance activities to ensure individuals and businesses pay what they owe, helping to raise a forecasted £2.3 billion by 2022-23. The planned investment of £155m, announced at Autumn Budget 2017, relates to the 2018-19 financial year and future years. Additional revenues will not accrue before then.

Red Diesel

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how his Department scrutinises the operation of red diesel relief.

Robert Jenrick: Only businesses approved by HMRC may supply red diesel. Registered Dealers in Controlled Oils must comply with strict rules to restrict access to legitimate rebated fuel users, and provide detailed information on their supplies for assurance by HMRC on a risk basis. HMRC's fleet of mobile testing units also test for misuse of red diesel in road vehicles.

Tax Allowances

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report published by the NAO in April 2014, entitled the exchequer departments - tax relief, whether his Department has increased the use of sunset clauses when instituting new forms of tax relief.

Mel Stride: This information is not held in the form requested. The Government’s approach is to consider in each case whether a sunset clause for a tax relief is justified. A sunset clause will normally not be justified for structural reliefs which are necessary to the continued operation of the tax system, or if there is a risk that a time-limited relief will distort taxpayer behaviour.

Bank Services: Fees and Charges

Paul Masterton: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of overdraft charges on the finances of vulnerable people.

Paul Masterton: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of fees for unauthorised overdraft fees.

John Glen: Decisions on overdraft fees and charges are a commercial matter for firms. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires firms to treat their customers fairly and has broad and robust powers to enforce breaches of its rules.In its July 2017 review of high-cost credit, the FCA concluded that it had concerns about both arranged and unarranged overdrafts. On 31 January 2018 the FCA published an update on its review, confirming it had seen evidence of consumer harm and would be undertaking further analysis to identify the extent of that harm, and how it might be resolved. The FCA has committed to publishing the results of this analysis in May 2018. The FCA also confirmed that overdrafts would be considered as part of its wider Strategic Review of Retail Business Banking Models and that it would look to consult on any further remedies towards the end of 2018, taking into account the findings of the Strategic Review.The Government supports the FCA’s work in this area and will continue to work with it to ensure that all consumers who use high-cost credit products are treated fairly.

Money Laundering

Mr David Lammy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government is taking steps to ensure that all Trust and Company Service Providers setting up companies in the UK are overseen by an anti-money laundering supervisor; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The Government is committed to ensuring the UK is a hostile environment for illicit finance and has taken significant steps to tackle the threat of money laundering. The Government tightened the requirements on AML supervisors in the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and legislated to establish an oversight body for professional body supervisors (the Office for Professional Body AML Supervision or OPBAS) in December 2017. TCSPs undertaking business in the UK must be supervised by either the FCA, HMRC or a professional body. They are subject to the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 which strengthened the requirements on TCSPs by introducing a fitness and propriety test on beneficial owners, officers and managers, by requiring TCSPs to be registered with either the FCA or HMRC and by requiring them to undertake customer due diligence checks when forming a company, whether or not the formation is the only transaction being carried out for that customer. At an international level, the UK works with international partners and through the Financial Action Task Force to drive up global standards of supervision and enforcement.

Money Laundering

Mr David Lammy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to prevent UK-registered companies being used in money laundering schemes.

John Glen: This Government is committed to making the UK a hostile place for illicit finance. Knowing who ultimately owns and controls a company is an important part of the global fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. It can assist law enforcement in their investigations, and additionally act as a deterrent. Our public register of company beneficial ownership, the People with Significant Control register, went live in June 2016. In June last year, this requirement was extended to Scottish Limited Partnerships. Last year we further strengthened our anti-money laundering regime through the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, bringing our system into line with the international standards as set by the Financial Action Task Force.

Public Sector: Child Care Vouchers

Stephanie Peacock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2018 to Question 133041, on Children: Day Care, whether his Department plans to undertake a public consultation on public sector employees and childcare vouchers.

Elizabeth Truss: We are listening to colleagues regarding the circumstances of public sector employers, and have committed to ongoing engagement to look at these issues as tax-free childcare continues to roll out to replace employer-supported childcare.

Children: Day Care

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Questions 124596 and 124597, on children: day care, for what reasons he did not answer the substantive questions in the answers provided.

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 124938 on Children: Day Care, how many and what proportion of recipients will receive the full £2,000 top-up under the tax-free childcare scheme.

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 124938, Children: Child Care, what steps HMRC is taking to ensure that  employers understand the merits of tax-free childcare.

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 123438, on Children: Childcare, what estimate he has made of the number of parents who will not receive support for childcare through the Childcare Vouchers scheme for children aged 11 and over in the next five years.

Elizabeth Truss: The information requested in question 133960 is not available. HMRC regularly engage with employers and attend employer events and forums to talk directly to employers about the benefits of Tax-Free Childcare. Resource and information about Tax-Free Childcare has been included in the HMRC employer bulletin, reaching over 750,000 employers. Robust estimates are not available for the information requested in question 133963. The Government announced the closure of the childcare voucher scheme to new entrants at Budget 2016. Therefore, parents of 12 to 15 year olds have either decided not to join the voucher scheme or are unable to join the scheme because they are self-employed or their employer does not offer vouchers. I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave on 30 January (124938) which provided our estimate of those parents who will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare and those that receive childcare vouchers. Tax-Free Childcare is now fully rolled out, and we will keep it under review to ensure it’s delivering the support needed for working families.

Excise Duties

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to implement local variations to national licensing schemes for excisable industries.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs has no plans to implement local variations to national schemes applicable to excisable industries.

Children: Day Care

Ruth George: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department provides to parents who experience technical difficulties when seeking to claim tax-free childcare online.

Elizabeth Truss: The majority of parents use the service without problems. HM Revenue and Customs have procedures in place to ensure any parent who experiences a technical issue when applying for Tax-Free Childcare through the online service, receives support and does not lose out financially. Where parents have missed out on Tax-Free Childcare payments, HMRC pay compensation to reimburse them for missed government top-ups. A dedicated childcare service helpline is available to provide further support to any parents experiencing technical difficulties.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Community Relations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, from which Departmental funding stream will the £50 million integration fund outlined by the Secretary of State on 14 March 2018, be allocated from.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: I have reprioritised my Department’s existing integration funding over the next two years to directly support the objectives of the new Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper.

Domestic Violence: Refuges

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated by Government Departments to domestic violence refuges in each of the last seven years.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Since 2014 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have invested £33.5 million in services to support victims of domestic abuse, including refuges, through three funding streams available to local authorities:The £10 million fund to local authorities (2014-2016) helped 148 local authorities strengthen refuge provision for victims and offer support to women from outside their own area.The £3.5 million Domestic Abuse Fund (2015-2016) supported 46 local authorities and their partners to deliver 710 new bed spaces for 3,798 victims of domestic abuse.The £20 million fund for domestic abuse services (2016-2018) funded 80 projects covering 258 local authorities in England creating more than 2,200 bed spaces and giving support to over 19,000 victims. We offered these 80 projects an additional £1.1 million in top up funding, and 77 projects received the additional funding on 22 March.The remaining £20 million of the £40 million the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government secured at the 2015 Spending Review for domestic abuse services, including refuges, will be made available as early as possible from April. This will include launching a new fund, which will be open to all local areas across England to bid for a share.In addition to this, on Monday 26 March Government announced the successful applicants to the latest round of Tampon Tax Funding. Of £15 million total, just over £ 3.6 million has been allocated to projects addressing domestic abuse.In the previous round of funding, announced on 31 March 2017, around £7.5 million was allocated to projects addressing violence against women and girls.Government has provided £100 million in dedicated funding to tackle violence against women and girls. This includes providing a secure future to rape support centres, national helplines, and the £ 17 million VAWG Service Transformation FundOn 8 March the Government announced how £12 million of this funding will be used including:£2 million to support domestic abuse work with female offenders and vulnerable women with complex needs;£8 million fund to support children who witness domestic abuse; and£2 million to extend a healthcare pathfinder pilot across further hospital trusts to help direct domestic abuse victims to the full range of services they need.

Local Government Finance: Redbridge

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding is Department allocated to London Borough of Redbridge in each year since May 2010.

Rishi Sunak: Spending Power is a measure of resources available to a local authority to fund its services. It includes Settlement Funding Assessment (business rates baseline funding level plus Revenue Support Grant), Council Tax and other central government grants.Prior to 2013-14, Formula Grant was non-ring fenced money for local government services. It was funded by central government grant and redistributed business rates. Post 2013-14, Settlement Funding Assessment became the way central government provided local authorities with non-ring fenced funding for local government services.Details of Redbridge Spending Power and the contribution from formula grant or the Settlement Funding Assessment can be found on line at:http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090506010530tf_/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/0809/grant.htmhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090506010526/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/0910/grant.htmhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140505110048/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1011/grant.htmhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140505110052/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/grant.htmhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140505110056/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1213/grant.htmhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140505104701/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1314/settle.htmhttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2014-to-2015https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/change-in-spending-power-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2015-to-2016https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2016-to-2017https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2017-to-2018Since 2010 there have been changes to the finance and function of local government, therefore spending power, Formula Grant and Settlement Funding Assessment are not directly comparable over this period.

Private Rented Housing: Greater London

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which local authorities in London have (a) applied for his consent to introduce selective licensing schemes for private rented properties, (b) such applications pending and (c) had such applications rejected since 2015.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Department has received applications from the London Boroughs of Brent, Newham, and Redbridge. The current application from the London Borough of Redbridge is pending. Redbridge had an application rejected in December 2015

Local Government Finance: Sports

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much public funding was allocated to local authorities to support the retention of community (a) sports halls, (b) playing fields and (c) swimming pools in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2016-17.

Rishi Sunak: Over the course of this spending period the Government has made available over £200 billion of funding for local government, for councils to spend on locally determined priorities, including sports facilities.Sport England works with a wide range of local authorities, providing expert advice and funding to sustain and increase the number of people playing sport regularly.It invests in local authority facilities projects through its range of funding programmes to make sure that facilities are modern, accessible and in the right places to have the most impact.

Local Government: Dorset

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on which date his Department gave advice to local councils in Dorset that a 20-year period for harmonisation and equalisation of council tax in the event of local government reorganisation in Dorset would be acceptable to the Government; and for what reason that advice changed.

Rishi Sunak: The Government's position, as my Hon Friend Jake Berry set out in his answer to my Hon Friend's Questions UIN 119513 and 119514 of 18 December 2017, has consistently been that it is for those implementing any unitary proposal to put to the Secretary of State their proposals for council tax equalisation. Whilst it is for the Secretary of State to specify in secondary legislation the maximum period for equalisation, this Government to date has made no such specification nor reached any conclusion as to what that maximum it might specify.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Cambridge Analytica​ and SCL Group

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has met representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (c) Cambridge Analytica in the last five years.

Jake Berry: Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-dataAs well as ministerial meetings, departmental officials meet external organisations on a regular and ongoing basis.

Children: Poverty

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and which wards based in rural districts are in the worst 10 per cent of wards for child poverty according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Department does not publish ward level data for the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) or the supplementary Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI).

Housing: Older People

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what projection his Department has made of the number of retirement homes which will be built between March 2018 and March 2022.

Dominic Raab: My Department does not make projections for the number of specific types of homes, including retirement homes, which are expected to be built over the next five years.

Ministry of Defence

Defence: Modernisation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for the publication of the Defence Modernisation Programme.

Gavin Williamson: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



We intend to be in a position to share headline conclusions from the Modernising Defence Programme in time for the NATO Summit in July.

Army Foundation College: Inspections

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the next Ofsted inspection of AFC Harrogate is due to take place.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Inspection Programme is determined by Ofsted and is not pre-communicated to the Department.

Army Foundation College: Inspections

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether AFC Harrogate conducts internal inspections of its own education, welfare and duty of care standards.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Army Foundation College (AFC) Harrogate carries out internal audits in addition to Ofsted and Departmental inspections.

Army Foundation College: Inspections

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what inspection framework Ofsted uses to inspect AFC Harrogate.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has a policy on the frequency of Ofsted inspections at Army Foundation Colleges.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Army Foundation College (AFC) Harrogate was inspected using the "Common Inspection Framework" (full title: "The revised Common Inspection Framework for further education and skills 2012: contextualised for use in the inspection of welfare and duty of care in Armed Services' training"). This framework is used for all Ofsted inspections of Welfare and Duty of Care in Defence initial training establishments. A copy of the framework is attached.The policy on selecting establishments for inspection is set out in Part 1 (Section 3) of the attached Ofsted framework. The Inspection Programme is determined by Ofsted and is not pre-communicated to the Department.



133471 - MOD Inspection Framework
(Word Document, 324 KB)

Defence: Modernisation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans for the Modernising Defence Programme to assess the (a) safety, (b) affordability and (c) strategic relevance of the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Gavin Williamson: On 18 July 2016, Parliament decisively supported our commitment to maintain the UK's independent nuclear deterrent. That decision has been taken and that commitment is not under consideration as part of the Modernising Defence Programme.

Defence: Modernisation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans for the Modernising Defence Programme to assess the global threat of nuclear proliferation and its effect on UK security.

Gavin Williamson: The Modernising Defence Programme will be informed by the current global security situation and will take into account a comprehensive range of threats, building on the National Security Risk Assessment 2015 and the work conducted across Government for the National Security Capability Review.

Defence: Modernisation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans for the Modernising Defence Programme to consider defence diversification and its relevance for the UK defence industry.

Gavin Williamson: The Modernising Defence Programme includes a workstream to modernise the Ministry of Defence's relationship with industry by improving on commercial capability and strategic supplier management.

Defence: Modernisation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans for the Modernising Defence Programme to specify how the Dreadnought Programme is to be funded.

Gavin Williamson: The aim of the Modernising Defence Programme is to deliver better military capability and value for money, so that Defence is configured to address the more complex threats we face as well as achieve enduring affordability.The ultimate defensive and protective capability, our nuclear capabilities, including Dreadnought programme continue to be funded from the Defence budget.

Ministry of Defence: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what dates he met with representatives of (a) SCL Group and (b) Cambridge Analytica.

Guto Bebb: Along with all Government Departments, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes quarterly details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations on gov.uk. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations-in-the-ministry-of-defence.The records show that there have been no meetings between MOD Ministers and SCL Group or Cambridge Analytica.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle programme to date.

Guto Bebb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor on 24 November 2017 to Question 113627 to the hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire (Mr Docherty-Hughes).



Unmanned Air Vehicles
(Word Document, 22.71 KB)

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many exercises 47 Regiment Royal Artillery has carried out with Watchkeeper in the last two years.

Guto Bebb: 47 Regiment Royal Artillery has carried out four main exercises with Watchkeeper over the last two years.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what additional costs his Department has incurred as a result the Army's Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle missing its Full Operating Capability 1 milestone.

Guto Bebb: There have been no additional costs incurred. The Watchkeeper programme remains on course to deliver within its current cost approvals.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many crashes or losses of the Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle have occurred; and what the reasons were for each such crash or loss.

Guto Bebb: There have been four incidents involving the loss of a Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).On 16 October 2014, Watchkeeper UAV WK031, operated by a civilian crew from Thales, was involved in an accident while making a landing approach to West Wales Airport, Aberporth, during deteriorating weather conditions. A second accident involving Watchkeeper WK006, operated by a military crew, occurred on landing at Boscombe Down on 2 November 2015.The Service Inquiry reports on these incidents contained a number of recommendations and actions have been taken, or are in hand, for all of these. The Service Inquiry panel also looked at the similarities between these incidents and concluded that, although some of the causal factors were different, the same flaw in the vehicle management system contributed to both accidents. The Equipment Standard 2 modification, which is currently being released, will update this. However, procedural mitigations have already been put in place to reduce the likelihood of re-occurrence.Two Watchkeeper UAVs were involved in separate incidents on 3 February and 24 March 2017 in segregated airspace over Cardigan Bay in West Wales. On both occasions, the UAVs ditched in the sea. The Service Inquiries into the incidents are ongoing and the cause is not yet known. It would be inappropriate to comment further until the Service Inquiry reports are released.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessed capability gaps have been created as a result of the Army's Watchkeeper programme failing to achieve its Full Operating Capability 1 milestone.

Guto Bebb: Watchkeeper could still be deployed on operations should the operational imperative warrant it. As such, no capability gaps have been created as a result of the Army's Watchkeeper programme failing to achieve its Full Operating Capability 1 milestone.

Ministry of Defence: SCL Group

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) his Department and (b) any of his Department's agencies entered into contracts with Strategic Communication Laboratories in each year since 2010.

Guto Bebb: Since 2010, SCL Group has had two contracts with the Ministry of Defence. One ended in February 2010 and the other in July 2014.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if will take steps to guarantee that a claimant in receipt of a higher rate of daily living or mobility components of personal independence payments.will not receive a lower rate as a result of reassessment.

Sarah Newton: Reviews are a key part of Personal Independence Payment and ensures that awards remain correct and claimants receive the correct level of support that they are entitled to.

Personal Independence Payment

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether personal independence payment claimants are able to choose to undergo a face-to-face reassessment.

Sarah Newton: Detailed information on award reviews can be found in Part 1 of the Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment guide for assessment providers - GOV.UK

Employment and Support Allowance: Motor Neurone Disease

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will permit employment and support allowance claimants with motor neurone disease to have their diagnosis confirmed by medical professionals as part of the reassessment process instead of by means of paper forms completed by those claimants.

Sarah Newton: I met representatives of the Motor Neurone Disease Association in February 2018, and listened to their concerns regarding the reassessment process. I have asked officials to look into the issues they raised. I have assured the Association that I will look carefully at how the reassessment process works for people with Motor Neurone Disease, and will consider change where this is possible.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what disability-specific training is provided to personal independence payment assessors to enable them to assess blind and partially sighted applicants.

Sarah Newton: The PIP assessment is not a medical assessment requiring the assessor to diagnose a condition and recommend treatment options. The focus is on ensuring that the Health Care Professionals are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on the individual’s daily life.All Health Care Professionals receive training on a wide range of conditions including sight loss and visual impairment. This includes detailed modules covering all aspects of sight loss and how the condition impacts on a person’s ability to undertake the activities in the PIP assessment. Both Assessment Providers employ Sensory Impairment Champions; these are experienced clinicians who are available to provide support and advice to Health Professionals at any point during the assessment process.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to evaluate the effectiveness of the Disability Confident scheme.

Sarah Newton: We are constantly looking at ways to improve Disability Confident and have introduced a Professional Advisers Group (PAG). The PAG works with officials to evaluate the impact of different aspects of the scheme and suggest amendments and developments where appropriate. For example, we have introduced a Specialist Thematic approach, which has so far delivered two programmes focused on mental health and workplace adjustments. These programmes have been evaluated by the PAG, and suggested improvements will be incorporated into further specialist themed programmes. The PAG has also considered the impact of the scheme itself, and has recommended a number of changes which have been incorporated and disseminated recently.We have also appointed a Disability Confident Business Leaders Group (BLG), comprising of senior leaders from significant British businesses across all sectors. The BLG is helping to increase engagement with employers, promoting the business benefits of disability employment, and working with my officials to identify any changes or developments that will improve the effectiveness of the scheme.We plan to conduct a more formal and robust evaluation of the Disability Confident scheme, and will be discussing this with the PAG, BLG, and other key stakeholders.

Credit Unions

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the outcome of the Credit Union Expansion Project.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect the Credit Union Expansion Project had on access to finance for people who are financially excluded.

Guy Opperman: The contractor for the Credit Union Expansion Project (CUEP) facilitated access to a standardised banking service. This banking platform allows credit union members to receive a range of banking services and benefit from more affordable credit. The platform is currently used by three credit unions with a total of approximately 16.5k members and allows these members to benefit from 24 hour online access to their accounts, and receive faster payments on a loan on the same day, usually within 4 hours. CUEP led to a number of credit unions to merge, and others to work together to develop standardised products and deliver local marketing campaigns to increase membership. CUEP also contributed to credit unions on the platform to increase the amount and value of loans made.CUEP ended on 16 February 2018 and it is too early to say what effect it had on the credit union sector. It should be noted that the credit union sector has grown over the lifetime of CUEP. As of January 2018, credit unions in Great Britain serve over 1.1 million adult members and have total assets of £1.5 billion and £815m in loans.The project will undertake an evaluation as part of the project closure.

Credit Unions

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to publish the accounts of the Credit Union Expansion Project.

Guy Opperman: DWP engaged a contractor to deliver the Credit Union Expansion Project (CUEP). It is the responsibility of the contractor to include any disclosure relating to the project within their accounts.

Universal Credit: ICT

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring that the Universal Credit IT system automatically links to a prior employment and support allowance claim and awards any components contained in that claim.

Alok Sharma: We have made changes to smooth the transition onto Universal Credit for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants.We have streamlined the process, with more information from ESA assessments now being passed on to Universal Credit. Universal Credit is replacing ESA and will be available for new claims in every Jobcentre by December 2018. We will begin the managed migration of existing ESA claims to Universal Credit in July 2019. Integrating with this system would mean that other important Universal Credit features would need to be delayed in order to implement this.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of universal credit claimants who have received two pay packets in one assessment period and none in the following assessment period.

Alok Sharma: To provide the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment: Hearing Impairment

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to (a) make the personal independence payment application process more accessible for people with hearing loss and (b) ensure communication support is provided during face-to-face personal independence payment assessments.

Sarah Newton: The Department is continually working to improve the claimant journey for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for all claimants including those with hearing loss. Improvements we have made to date include introducing the Video Relay Service for those with communication difficulties who use British Sign Language (BSL) so they are able to communicate with the Department more easily. The ‘Next Generation Text’ (NGT) service is available for Deaf or hard of hearing claimants unable to use BSL or those unable to speak. Claim forms can be requested in writing or by email. We can also arrange for a DWP Visiting Officer to visit the claimant, with a BSL interpreter if required, to help with completion of the PIP claim form. Assessment Providers must provide on request materials in alternative formats to meet the needs of claimants with a wide range of disabilities and health conditions in line with the Disability and Equality Act 2010. This includes providing a British Sign Language interpreter to be present at an assessment if requested in advance. Companions are also encouraged to attend and can play an active role during the assessment.

Universal Credit

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) assess the efficacy of universal support.

Alok Sharma: As Universal Credit rolls out, DWP’s District Partnership teams are talking to local partners about the needs of claimants, and the support that needs to be in place for them. They are also discussing how Universal Credit Assisted Digital Support and Personal Budgeting Support should operate in their locality, and how to ensure efficient operation and performance improvement.Local authorities are working with us to continue to review their partnerships, to ensure the right support is available as Universal Credit continues to roll out and the service changes.The then Secretary of State also announced on 23 November 2017, that we are exploring the scope for greater collaborative working with Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to help claimants locally as they move to Universal Credit, which will include Universal Support.

Personal Independence Payment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of levels of satisfaction of claimants at the mandatory reconsideration stage of personal independence payment claims in each of the last two years.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The Department for Work and Pensions monitors overall levels of satisfaction for most benefits, including Personal Independent Payment (PIP), via the Claimant Service and Experience Survey. The survey includes PIP claimants who have had contact with DWP in the three months prior to interview. The latest overall satisfaction figure for PIP was 87% in 2016/17 (76% in 2015/16). The research is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2016-to-2017 The Department for Work and Pensions has also undertaken an extensive independent three wave evaluation (PIP Claimant Experience Evaluation) examining individuals’ experiences of all stages of the PIP journey. In total over 3,600 individuals have been interviewed. The third and final wave of the evaluation examines Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals, findings from which will be published later this year.

Guardianship

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the UK have (a) corporate appointeeship and (b) corporate deputy.

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the UK with a (a) corporate appointeeship and (b) corporate deputy are in receipt of Universal Credit.

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the UK with a (a) corporate appointeeship and (b) corporate deputy are in receipt of employment and support allowance.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The Office of the Public Guardian has reported that there are currently 33,581 deputies in the UK. The information requested in relation to corporate appointees and deputies being in receipt of Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance is not collated centrally by DWP and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Access to Work Programme

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of access to work users who will be affected by the new cap of £57,000 per year.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The Written Ministerial Statement of 20 March on Access to Work announced that the award limit, currently £42,100 per year, will rise from 1st April 2018 to £57,200 per annum. The Equality Analysis published in May 2015 identified an estimate of 200 customers with awards exceeding the level of the cap and it is estimated that many of these transitionally protected customers will benefit from the increase. In addition, some existing customers with awards at or just below the current cap may benefit when they renew their claim if their needs have increased. An Equality Analysis of the changes will be published as a formal addendum to the Equality Analysis published in May 2015.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects new guidelines on mental illness and personal independence payments (PIP) to be issued to PIP assessors.

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has her Department has made on writing new guidelines for personal independence payments that take account of the effect of mental health conditions on an person's mobility.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The Department is now working to implement the MH Upper Tribunal judgment, which changes how overwhelming psychological distress should be considered in assessing a person’s ability to plan and follow a journey under Mobility Activity 1 of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). We are currently engaging with a range of stakeholder on changes to Departmental guidance. We are committed to taking this work forward at pace over the coming months, and will publish new guidance in due course.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which mental health conditions will be included in the new Personal Independence Payment guidelines.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not awarded on the basis of an individual’s diagnosis. It is a needs based assessment which looks at how an individual’s condition(s) affects their ability to do everyday tasks.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training personal independence payment assessors receive on mental illness and the disabilities that result from them.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



Health Care Professionals (HCPs) undertaking PIP assessments must have at least 2 years post full registration experience (this refers to either UK registration or equivalent overseas registration for non-UK HPs) or less than 2 years post full registration experience by individual, prior, written agreement with the Department. Requests by providers to employ Health Professionals with less than 2 years post full registration experience is rare and exceptional. All HCPs receive training on how to identify the impact of mental health conditions on claimants. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role. In addition, Mental Health Champions support HCPs by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental and learning disabilities and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process. HCPs make every attempt to obtain the best evidence available to assist them in undertaking the assessment. This includes accessing evidence from Community Mental Health Teams, psychologists, psychiatrists and other medical professionals. Health Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen review and update training programmes for all their assessment staff.

HSBC: Occupational Pensions

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place all reports she received on the practice of HSBC Bank plc in deducting state deduction claw-back from its pensioners in the Library.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work and Pensions has not received any reports about the practices of HSBC Bank plc on integrated pension schemes (or deducting state deduction clawback). The Department has received a number of written representations regarding integrated pension schemes from individuals and from Members of Parliament writing on their behalf. There is a detailed explanation on integrated pension schemes in the 15 February 2018 briefing from the House of Commons Library titled ‘Pension integration (or ‘clawback’)’, which was published on the UK Parliament website and is available here: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01121 In addition, the Chair of the Trustees Board of HSBC Bank Pension Trust (UK) Limited has written to the Work and Pension’s Select Committee with more details on its practices. This letter was published on the UK Parliament website on 24 January 2018 and is available here: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/work-and-pensions/Correspondence/Letter-from-Russell-Picot-Chair-HSBC-Pension-Trust-UK-to-Chair-regarding-Midland-section-12-January-2018.pdf

Access to Work Programme

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department estimates will be saved to the public purse as a result of the £57,000 cap on individual awards under Access to Work.

Sarah Newton: Based on the published Equality Analysis in 2015, the original estimate was that the cap would free £3m pa to re-invest in the scheme. We intend to publish an updated Equality Analysis as a formal addendum to the 2015 document.

Support for Mortgage Interest

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the financial effect on people who move from the Support for Mortgage Interest benefit to the Support for Mortgage Interest loan.

Kit Malthouse: All existing claimants will be offered a support for mortgage interest loan paid at the same rate that is currently available as part of their benefit entitlement. The new loans-based support for mortgage interest will only affect claimants’ financial situation on the sale or transfer of the property, when the loan will be recovered from any available equity.

Immigration: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have indefinite leave to remain and have reached the end of their eligibility for asylum support are waiting to receive a national insurance number in the West Midlands.

Kit Malthouse: DWP do not hold information regarding the numbers of asylum seekers who have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. However, when the Home Office grant the application for indefinite leave they forward the personal details to NINo operations and a NINo is allocated within 48 hours. From 15 January 2018 this process is applicable to the principle family member and any adult dependants aged 16 or over in the refugees family. With the NINo being allocated within 48 hours this facilitates the smooth transition from asylum support to mainstream benefits.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will take steps to ensure that claimants need not undergo personal independent payment assessments when they have a Certificate of Visual Impairment.

Sarah Newton: The assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not designed to capture someone’s condition. Instead it is designed to assess how a claimant’s condition affects their functional ability. The Department therefore encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The Certificate of Visual Impairment forms part of this suite of evidence but on its own does not provide sufficient information for a comprehensive assessment of functional ability.Further information on the assessment process and sources of evidence can be found in Part 1 of the PIP Assessment Guide: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment guide for assessment providers - GOV.UK

Grandparents: Scotland

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of grandparents in Scotland who (a) who are eligible for adult specified childcare credit and (b) are eligible for that credit but are not claiming it.

Guy Opperman: Specified Adult Childcare credits were introduced in April 2011. These effectively allow an individual who successfully claims Child Benefit and already has a qualifying year, for example through paying Class 1 NI contributions to transfer their credits to grandparents and other specified adults under State Pension age who care for children aged under 12 whilst they are at work. No information is held on the number of people in Scotland who are eligible for Specified Adult Childcare credits, or who may be eligible but are not claiming it.

Universal Credit

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of families which have claimed the upper limit of the childcare entitlement element of universal credit for whom that support represented less than 85% of their childcare costs since the introduction of that benefit.

Alok Sharma: Entitlement to Universal Credit is determined by first assessing what a claimant qualifies for, for example, housing costs and caring responsibilities. This can include childcare of up to 85% of eligible costs, up to a limit of £1,108.04 for two or more children. All relevant qualifying amounts are combined into a gross entitlement figure. Once this gross entitlement has been established, any income and earnings is deducted to produce the net entitlement figure. Income and earnings are deducted from the total entitlement and not a specific element (for example, that representing childcare costs). Therefore it is not possible to provide the calculation requested in the question.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Motor Vehicles

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles (a) his Department and (b) Defra Group (i) own and (ii) lease.

George Eustice: The following table shows the vehicle leasing and ownership across the Defra Group of the Environment agency (EA), Natural England (NE), Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the Rural Payments agency (RPA).  TypeEANEAPHADefraMMORPACars: Leased330432013631203Cars: Owned4004000Commercial Vehicles under 3.5t - Owned129311851000Commercial Vehicles under 3.5t - Leased016000Commercial Vehicles over 3.5t - Owned4313000Commercial Vehicles over 3.5t - Leased001000Total Number of Vehicles46441238117631203

Veterinary Medicine

David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what studies the Government has undertaken to establish the extent to which common veterinary practice is evidence-based.

George Eustice: Clinical governance is a requirement for all veterinary surgeons, under the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ Code of Professional Conduct which can be found here: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/setting-standards/advice-and-guidance/code-of-professional-conduct-for-veterinary-surgeons/ Clinical governance may include critically analysing the evidence base for procedures used and making appropriate changes to practice, which falls directly under the principles of evidence based veterinary medicine. In order to be considered fit to practice, veterinary practitioners hold the responsibility to ground their decisions on sound, objective and up to date evidence, when available.

Foot and Mouth Disease: Disease Control

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has in place to prevent a potential outbreak of foot and mouth disease among livestock.

George Eustice: There are a series of measures in place to reduce the risk of foot and mouth disease virus entering the UK and to prevent its introduction to livestock. These measures include: Strict rules for the movement of animals and genetic material being traded between EU Member States. These include specific rules for limiting trade with any regions affected by FMD;Animal products, such as meat and milk, produced within the EU must be produced in accordance with EU animal and public health legislation, including specific rules for trade with regions affected by FMD;Imports are only permitted into the EU from a restricted list of countries which meet EU standards including compliance with measures to prevent and detect FMD in those countries. Meat and dairy products imported from third countries must be accompanied by animal and public health certification confirming that they come from an area that is free from FMD;Import of animals must be supported by veterinary certification of the health of the animal prior to departure and confirming its compliance with the trade conditions;Animals and animal products imported from third countries must enter the EU through a Border Inspection Post where checks are carried out to ensure that import conditions have been met;Surveillance and monitoring of FMD reported internationally is used to inform Defra’s assessment of the threat presented by different trade routes. This informs targeting of measures at the border, domestic disease surveillance and communications to raise awareness of livestock keepers.Post-import checks on a proportion of imported animals; andA ban on the feeding of certain animal products that might introduce FMD to livestock in the UK. For further detail on the measures in place to maintain disease freedom see Section 3 on pages 9-11 of the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain. This is available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69456/fmd-control-strategy111128.pdf

Water: Meters

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of households that use less than the average amount of water whose bills will increase as a result of the installation of a smart meter.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra has not made an estimate of the number of households that use less than the average amount of water whose bills will increase as a result of the installation of either a ‘standard’ or a ‘smart’ water meter. However, based on previous experience, low water users are most likely to benefit from having a meter fitted as they pay for the water they use.

Energy: Meters

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the electromagnetic fields produced by smart meters are within the guidelines exposure levels set by his Department.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Public Health England (PHE) has advised that the evidence suggests exposures to the radio waves produced by smart meters do not pose a risk to health. The results of a recent PHE study confirm that exposure to radio waves from smart meters is well below the guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The study also concluded that exposure to the radio waves produced by smart meters is likely to be much lower than that from other everyday devices such as mobile phones and Wi-Fi equipment. Further information on smart meters and PHE’s research is published on their website.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meters-radio-waves-and-health/smart-meters-radio-waves-and-health

Air Pollution

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department’s national air quality monitoring data from Preston Park and Worthing for the purpose of assessing the compliance of Brighton and Hove Local Authority area with EU limits of nitrogen dioxide NO2 air pollution; if he will make it his policy to include Brighton and Hove City Council local NO2 pollution monitoring data from (a) North Street Low Bus Emission Zone and (b) Lewes Road link to the universities in the national assessment; if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the national model assessment in determining which cities comply with the NO2 limit; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Preston Park and Worthing A27 Roadside monitoring sites were chosen to measure background and roadside pollution concentrations respectively within reporting zone 10 (Brighton, Worthing and Littlehampton) and is sited in accordance with EU requirements for compliance purposes. In 2016, the data captured at the Worthing A27 Roadside site did not meet the requirements for assessment under the Air Quality Directive. The site was only brought into operation in October 2016 so the required data capture of at least 75% for the year could not be achieved. For 2017 we expect both sites to be included in the assessment subject to data validation procedures. The national model is designed to meet the specific requirements for assessing compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limits, as set out in the Ambient Air Quality Directive. The High Court found [in Mr Justice Garnham’s judgment, handed down on 21 February 2018] that our national air quality modelling and monitoring are compliant with these legal requirements. Data that does not meet the Directive requirements cannot be incorporated in this assessment, but should continue to be used by local authorities to monitor air quality as part of the Local Air Quality Management process.

Animal and Plant Health Agency

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Plant Health Inspectors have been stationed at (a) Heathrow and (b) Manchester airports in each year since 2010.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many vacancies there are for Plant Health Inspectors at (a) Heathrow and (b) Manchester airports.

George Eustice: We are unable to provide data from 2010 as records only go back to 2014 with the formation of the Animal & Plant Health Agency. Manchester Airport Date/YearPlant Health Inspectors2014220152201622017320186 Heathrow Airport Date/YearPlant Health Inspectors201422201524201622201724201822 There are currently no vacancies in the Plant Health and Seeds team based at Manchester airport. There are currently 5 vacancies in the equivalent team based at Heathrow. A recruitment process to fill the vacancies is currently being undertaken.

Countryside

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the Report of Session 2017-19 of the Lords Select Committee on the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, The countryside at a crossroads: Is the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 still fit for purpose.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Report of Session 2017-19 of the Lords Select Committee on the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 ‘The countryside at a crossroads: Is the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 still fit for purpose?’ was published on 22 March 2018. The Government has undertaken to reply within two months of the publication of the report.

Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill (Draft)

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to introduce the Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill.

George Eustice: The public consultation on the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill closed on 31 January 2018. We are currently considering the 9000 responses received to the consultation and will be responding shortly.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: SCL Group

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) his Department and (b) any of his Department's agencies entered into contracts with Strategic Communication Laboratories in each year since 2010.

George Eustice: Defra and its executive agencies have not entered into any contracts with Strategic Communication Laboratories in any year since 2010.

Home Office

Unexplained Wealth Orders

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value was of the assets seized under Unexplained Wealth Orders in 2017-18.

Mr Ben Wallace: Unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) can be used to compel individuals to explain the sources of their wealth where it is suspected that their lawful income would be insufficient to obtain specified property, if they are a non-EEA politically exposed person, or suspected of being involved in serious crime. This is a powerful new weapon for tackling illicit finances and corruption.Since the legislation came into force on 31 January 2018, the first UWOs have already been issued by the courts to investigate assets totalling £22 million. In addition to the UWOs, the courts granted interim freezing orders (IFOs), meaning that the assets cannot be sold, transferred or dissipated while subject to the IFO.

Home Office: Public Expenditure

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018, Spring Statement, HCWS 540, if she will publish a list of where the £395 million in EU exit funding for her Department will be allocated.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office received £395m to support ongoing work to deliver the Settlement Scheme for over 3 million EU citizens who are resident in the UK. This includes building a simple, user-friendly digital application system, and caseworkers to process applications; and prepare the UK border for our departure from the customs union.We will provide more detailed information on this in due course.

Unexplained Wealth Orders

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unexplained wealth orders have been approved since 31 January.

Mr Ben Wallace: Two Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) have been applied for and granted in relation to assets totalling £22 million. In addition to the UWOs, the courts granted interim freezing orders (IFOs), meaning that the assets cannot be sold, transferred or dissipated while subject to the IFO.Unexplained wealth orders are an important addition to existing investigation powers; they compel individuals to explain the sources of their wealth where it is suspected that their lawful income would be insufficient to obtain specified property, if they are a non-EEA politically exposed person, or suspected of being involved in serious crime.

Facebook: Data Protection

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her counterpart in the US administration on the role of (a) Cambridge Analytica, (b) Strategic Communications Laboratories, (c) Global Science Research and (d) Aleksandr Kogan in obtaining personal data from Facebook.

Victoria Atkins: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has not had any recent discussions with her counterpart in the US administration regarding (a) Cambridge Analytica, (b) Strategic Communications Laboratories, (c) Global Science Research and (d) Aleksandr Kogan in obtaining personal data from Facebook.

Facebook: Data Protection

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place the minutes and notes of any meetings held between her Department and representatives of Facebook on the potential security breach of UK citizens' data in the Library.

Victoria Atkins: The allegations concerning Cambridge Analytica are currently under investigation by the Information Commissioner.The Secretary of State for the Home Department has not met with representatives of Facebook to discuss the potential security breach of UK citizens’ data.

Home Office: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has met representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (c) Cambridge Analytica.

Victoria Atkins: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has not met with representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories or (c) Cambridge Analytica.

Human Trafficking

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the number of Immigration Enforcement Officers on preventing human trafficking.

Caroline Nokes: Immigration Enforcement work in partnership law enforcement agencies and NGOs in responding to modern slavery and human trafficking offencesThere are 1240 frontline officers within the crime and financial investigations teams (CFI) and immigration, compliance and enforcement teams of Immigration Enforcement, all of whom are trained to identify the indicators of modern slavery and human trafficking.Immigration Enforcement are putting in place modern slavery champions across frontline enforcement who will receive enhanced training in this area.CFI officers receive a number of Modern Slavery training products including e-learning through the National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies (NCALT) (from the College of Policing) and HO products through Discover.They receive a half day first response face to face delivery in their induction programme and a further face to face delivery around the National Referral Mechanism and indicators within Professionalising Investigation Programme ( PIP1) classroom.They study further for the national investigators examination ( NIE) and are questioned on Modern Slavery Act offences in the exam. On PIP2 they undertake a full week covering the College Public Protection Learning Programme covering the 13 strands of Public Protection but IE also focus heavily on Modern Slavery. Further to this the Hydra exercise in week 4 is based on a Modern Slavery scenario.All modern slavery operations conducted by CFI are debriefed fully. Any issues identified are dealt with and fed into the assurance and training teams.CFI has a business assurance framework which provides a formal structure to assurance activity to ensure we adopt a consistent approach across all areas of operations.

Passports: Contracts

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse on the new contract for producing British passports.

Caroline Nokes: No discussions have taken place between Home Office and the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse on the new contract for design, manufacture, assembly and personalisation of the UK passport.Her Majesty’s Passport Office has undertaken a rigorous, fair and open competition to identify the supplier that will be best able to meet the needs of its passport service and customers and provides value for money.

Home Office: SCL Group

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) her Department and (b) any of her Department's agencies entered into contracts with Strategic Communication Laboratories in each year since 2010.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office have not entered into any contracts with Strategic Communication Laboratories since 2010.

Wales Office

Apprentices: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122821, on Apprentices: Wales, whether his Department plans to have consulted with the Welsh Government before the summer recess.

Stuart Andrew: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The Government has set out our intention to consult on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund before the end of this year.

Brexit: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 118400, on Brexit: Wales, what the issues are that have been brought to his attention; and what steps the Government has taken to resolve those issues.

Stuart Andrew: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



As the Secretary of State set out in his previous answer, since the referendum the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales has been engaging with stakeholders throughout Wales to hear their views on how we make Brexit work for Wales, including through the Secretary of State’s expert panel of stakeholders. The issues raised in these discussions have been familiar ones, including the importance of maintaining access to European markets, ensuring that employers are able to recruit the workforce they require, and making sure that Wales grasps the opportunities presented by the UK’s exit from the EU.EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with departments including the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales to support the ongoing negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning.

Scotland Office

Glasgow Airport: Ryanair

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the decision by Ryanair to scrap their hub at Glasgow Airport on flight availability and passenger numbers.

David Mundell: Though a disappointing decision, as a privately operated airline, Ryanair’s operational decision to withdraw its fleet base was commercial one for them to make.

Scotland Office: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to Answer of 20 March 2018 to Question 13226, on Scotland Office: Buildings, what the annual cost of renting those buildings is.

David Mundell: The cost of renting the buildings in 2017-18 is £483,060.

Scotland Office: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has met representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (c) Cambridge Analytica in the last five years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department or its agencies has entered into contracts with SCL group or Cambridge Analytica.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office

Elections: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the work of (a) Cambridge Analytica, (b) Strategic Communications Laboratories and (c) Global Science Research on elections conducted in the UK.

Chloe Smith: Parliament is responsible for setting the rules in relation to campaigning, funding and spending at elections and referendums. It is for the Electoral Commission to regulate actively against these rules.The Electoral Commission is an independent body and the detail of any investigations undertaken by the Electoral Commission is a matter for them.

Admiralty House: Repairs and Maintenance

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent on repairs and maintenance of the Admiralty House flats in each of the last 10 years.

Oliver Dowden: This information is not held centrally and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

Elections: Proof of Identity

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how his Department plans to evaluate the voter ID pilot; what indicators will be used to measure the success of that pilot; what methods will be used to collect information related to that pilot; who will be responsible for implementing the evaluation plan; and how and when will the results of that evaluation will be shared.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how his Department plans to evaluate the postal vote pilots; what indicators will be used to measure the success of those pilots; what methods will be used to collect the information relating to those pilots; who will be responsible for implementing the evaluation plan; and how and when the results of that evaluation will be shared.

Chloe Smith: The British public deserves to have confidence in our democracy and the Government is committed to making sure that our electoral system is fit for the future.Woking, Gosport, Bromley, Swindon and Watford have committed to pilot voter ID in May 2018 and Tower Hamlets, Slough and Peterborough are piloting measures to improve the security of the postal vote process.The pilot authorities, Cabinet Office and the Electoral Commission have worked collaboratively to agree what information will be collected from the pilots and how it will be collected.The Electoral Commission is responsible for carrying out an independent, statutory evaluation of the pilot schemes and will publish its findings following the May elections, in the summer of 2018.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Scientists: UK Relations With EU

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions his Department have held with the European Union on maintaining collaboration between UK-based scientists and non-UK organisations in the event that the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Steve Baker: We have been clear that as the UK leaves the EU, we will look to build on our unique relationship with the EU and establish an agreement on science and innovation that ensures the valuable research links between us continue to grow. The Prime Minister reiterated in her Mansion House speech that the UK is committed to establishing a far-reaching science and innovation pact with the EU, facilitating the exchange of ideas and researchers. On Monday 19 March the UK and EU negotiating teams reached another important milestone in the exit process by agreeing the terms of a time-limited implementation period. As part of the next phase of the negotiations, we look forward to working with the EU on designing this science and innovation pact, and we would welcome a full and open discussion about all of the options for continued collaboration.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has met represenatives of (a) SCL Group and (b) Cambridge Analytica.

Mr Steve Baker: The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has not met with representatives of SCL Group or Cambridge Analytica. Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=transparency-data&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-exiting-the-european-union&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=&to_date= As well as ministerial meetings, departmental officials meet external organisations on a regular and ongoing basis.

Department for Exiting the European Union: SCL Group

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether his Department or its agencies has entered into contracts with SCL group.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether (a) his Department and (b) any of his Department's agencies entered into contracts with Strategic Communication Laboratories in each year since his Department was established.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department has not entered into any commercial contract with Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL Group). The Department has no agencies.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what information he holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in his Department.

Greg Hands: Cleaning services in buildings managed by the Department for International Trade are outsourced under a facilities management contract, and the supplier is responsible for setting rates of pay for its staff. The supplier has confirmed that all cleaning staff in buildings managed by the Department are paid at least the London Living Wage.Where the Department for International Trade is a tenant in buildings belonging to other government departments, cleaners are employed by the property management company for the main landlord, and therefore, information is not held by the Department for International Trade about the rate of remuneration for cleaners in these buildings.

Department for International Trade: Public Expenditure

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018, Spring Statement, HCWS 540, if he will publish a list of where the £74 million in EU exit funding for his Department will be allocated.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade has been allocated £74m, for essential EU exit preparations in 2018-19. This will be spent on work to support the UK’s future trade policy, which will allow us to maximise our trade opportunities globally. This includes setting up a new trade remedies authority (subject to Parliament approving the Trade Bill) and providing trade policy function for future negotiations. As with all Reserve funding, finalised allocations will be confirmed at Supplementary Estimates 2018-19 in early 2019.

European Free Trade Association

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the UK's potential future trading relationship with EFTA countries; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: As we leave the EU, the UK remains committed to our deep relationships with our partners in EFTA. The draft agreement published by the EU and UK on the terms of the implementation period, will mean that the existing international agreements to which we are a party, will continue to apply to the UK. These include trade arrangements with Switzerland, and the EEA Agreement, which governs crucial elements of our trading and non-trading relationship with the EEA EFTA states. Once the implementation period ends, we will no longer be participants in the EU's international agreements, including the EEA Agreement. We will instead seek to put in place new arrangements to maintain excellent trade relations with these states and continue to have an open dialogue with them about how this can best be achieved.

Import Duties: USA

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what information he has received from the US Administration on the criteria by which requests for exemptions from the tariffs on steel and aluminium imports will be evaluated.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has spoken on several occasions to the Commerce Secretary and to the US Trade Representative about the investigation, including when he travelled to Washington last week for face-to-face meetings with both to make the case for the UK as part of the EU.

Import Duties: EU Countries

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in EU Member States on the potential merits of introducing safeguarding tariffs against cheap steel and aluminium imports redirected from the United States.

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has had discussions with his EU counterparts on initiating a safeguards investigation on steel and aluminium imports into the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The decision to initiate a safeguards investigation is the responsibility of the European Commission. We are working closely with the European Commission and EU Member States on a response to the proposed US actions.

UK Trade With EU

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that legal mechanisms are in place to ensure that third countries, with whom the UK has a trading arrangement through EU membership, will continue to provide the same terms of trade during the implementation period; and whether the UK will be able to retaliate to changes such as increased tariffs on British goods during transition if the UK is part of the Customs Union.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The agreement reached between the EU and the UK, on the terms of the implementation period sets out that the UK is to be treated as a Member State, for the purposes of international agreements during the Implementation Period. The agreed Implementation Period will give businesses and citizens certainty, that common rules will remain in place until the end of the period, meaning businesses will be able to trade on the same terms and have the same protections as now, up until the end of 2020.

Trade Agreements: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has plans to publish proposed trade deals  in draft to ensure Parliamentary scrutiny of those deals.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The UK remains committed to a transparent, fair, and rules-based approach to international trade and invited views on its approach to future trade policy, including future trade agreements, in the Trade White Paper last year – ‘Preparing for our future UK trade policy’. The Department has undertaken a comprehensive series of engagement activities, to ensure a wide range of stakeholder views were gathered. We published a response on 5 January acknowledging stakeholder views and set out positive next steps for future engagement. The Government is currently in the process of designing its future trade policy, where future trade agreements are concerned.We will continue to respect the role of Parliament when agreeing the terms of future trade agreements.

Trade Barriers: USA

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of retaliatory tariffs being imposed on the US causing a trade war; and what discussions he has had with the European Commission on that matter.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for International Trade, has been in close contact with Commissioner Malmström and has had a range of discussions. It is right that this situation is dealt with in a measured way, to temper the risk of escalation. We must ensure that we work within the boundaries of the rules-based international trading system.

Trade Barriers: USA

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking with his counterparts in other EU countries to impose re-balancing measures to offset the effects of the US tariffs.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The European Commission has published a list of possible countermeasures for consultation. We are in contact with EU counterparts and will make representations to the Commission following consultation with industry. Any decision to impose these measures will be based on a vote of Member States under the framework of the EU Enforcement Regulation.

Department for International Trade: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether (a) his Department and (b) his Department's agencies and public bodies have held contracts with (i) SCL Group and (ii) Cambridge Analytica.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 26 March 2018



The Department for International Trade does not hold any contracts with SCL Group and Cambridge Analytica.The Department for International Trade does not currently have any agencies and public bodies.

Import Duties: USA

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he made to the US administration on the process for UK manufacturers securing an exemption from steel tariffs in the time period after the announcement of the US section 232 investigation and up until that administration's announcement of such tariffs.

Greg Hands: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Brent North on 27 March 2018, UIN: 133574. The US has granted a temporary exemption to the UK as part of the EU until 1 May. The EU will continue to make representations to the US on extending any exemption, and the UK is working with UK businesses to continue to understand the impacts that this may have.

Small Businesses: North East

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2018 to Question 131181 on small businesses: overseas trade, when the Export Strategy review will be completed; and whether that review will consider how the Government can best support businesses in the North East after the UK leaves the EU.

Graham Stuart: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Audio-visual Industry: EU Law

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to replace the provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 to ensure that the distribution of content across borders is possible after the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 was introduced to regulate R18-rated video-on-demand content and ban the provision of video-on-demand material that has been or would be refused a classification by the British Board of Film Classification. The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 amended the Communications Act 2003, which is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and will thus continue to apply after we exit the EU. We will use the powers within the Withdraw Bill to ensure that the content in question is still regulated after we leave the EU. Cross-border broadcasting is currently regulated by the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) which allows the UK-based broadcasting licensees to broadcast freely into the EU. In her Mansion House speech earlier this month, the Prime Minister stated that the UK should “explore creative options with an open mind, including mutual recognition which would allow for continued transfrontier broadcasting.” We understand that this will be a difficult negotiation, but remain absolutely committed to securing the best possible deal for the UK and for the broadcasting sector. We are determined to ensure that our future relationship with the EU recognises the enriching role that British broadcasters and content producers play not only in the UK but also in our common European culture.

World Poetry Day

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps were taken by his Department to mark World Poetry Day on 21 March 2018.

Michael Ellis: The Government is committed to making sure that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in all forms of arts and culture including poetry. We continue to support organisations such as the Poetry School and the Poetry Society who aim to promote the recognition and appreciation of poetry. The Poetry Society will have received over £1 million in funding between 2015 and 2018, to help it continue to represent British poetry both nationally and internationally. A range of events were held across the country to celebrate World Poetry Day on 21 March. For example, Redbridge Library held an open mic session; Brighton & Hove City Libraries tweeted its staff’s favourite poems on the day and Brighton Dome hosted the Emergency Poet and the Poetry Ambulance in Jubilee Square. To provide ongoing support to poetry, Arts Council England has recently given a substantial grant to The Poetry Business to support poets at every stage of their development. This includes a partnership with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, who has selected leading emerging poets for promotion under the ‘Laureates Choice’ banner.

Tickets: Touting

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to make ticket touting an offence for theatre and musical performances that receive funding from the Arts council England.

Margot James: We have taken several measures to crackdown on unacceptable behaviour in the online primary and secondary ticketing markets and to improve fans’ chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price. In line with Professor Waterson’s independent review into the ticketing market, however, we do not have plans to ban the secondary market. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 already includes rules about tickets offered for sale on the secondary market. The Digital Economy Act 2017 adds an additional requirement for ticket sellers to provide a unique ticket number when re-selling a ticket, and provides the power to create a specific offence, of electronically purchasing more tickets than the maximum permitted. We intend to enact this power via secondary legislation later this year. We welcome the work of the Competition and Markets Authority and Trading Standards in taking enforcement action against those who are suspected to be in breach of consumer law.

Facebook: Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions officials in his Department had with Baroness Fields on Facebook's data collection practices when (a) she was appointed Minister for Internet Safety and Security in 2015 and (b) she was appointed Special Representative on Internet Crime and Harms in 2016.

Margot James: Ministers and officials have regular discussions with their colleagues across government to discuss a range of issues.

Facebook: Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Special Representative on Internet Crime and Harms was made aware of the Cambridge Analytica Facebook data breach.

Margot James: Baroness Shields, the Special Representative on Internet Crime and Harms, was no longer in post at the time, having resigned her role in late February 2018.

4G

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the proportion of premises which do not have access to 4G coverage from at least one provider.

Margot James: We do not hold any information on the proportion of premises which do not have access to 4G coverage from at least one mobile network operator. Coverage information is reported by Ofcom, the independent regulator, who have not published such a figure. They have, however, reported that 99% of UK premises have indoor data coverage (3G or 4G) from at least one mobile operator and 85% from all four operators.